'm 
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JO MM ROOT 



Semi-Centennial Celebration 



OF THE 



SETTLEMENT OF 

BISHOP HILL COLONY 




HELD AT BISHOP HILL, ILLINOIS 

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY 

SEPTEMBER 23 AND 24 

1896 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMrCENTENNIAL. 



PREFACE. 

TO THE READER: 

Believing that it will be appreciated by posterity if a record of the 
proceedings of the Semi-Centennial celebration of the settlement of Bishop 
Hill Colony, in Henry County, Illinoib, which was held at Birhop Hill on 
September 23 and 24, 1896, would be preserved in a more permanent form, 
the writer has undertaken the task by copying said proceedings which 
were published at the time by E. E. Fitch in a special edition of "The 
Galva Weekly News," which is herewith submitted in pamphlet form, with 
some additions in the line of views of buildings, photographs and groups 
of old settlers taken in the park at the Reunion, with the expressed wish 
that on the one hundredth anniversary of the event, these proceedings be 
read as a part of the exercises of the occasion. The children, and men, and 
women, who are coming tipon the scene of action even now, cannot be 
made to realize the conditions existing here when the first pioneers blazed 
the way in the wilderness, to this now fertile garden spot of the New 
World; and by 1946 the^e proceedings will perhaps read like fairy tales, 
rivaling in their truth the most fertile imaginafion of a Jule.s Verne and a 
Hans Christian Anderson. 

JOHN ROOT. 

GALVA, ILLINOIS, MAY 29, 1909. 




Winter Scene in Bishop Hill. Looking West from Post Office. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMF-CEXTENNIAL. 



A SOUVENIR OF THE PROCEEDINGS 

of the Semi=Centennial Celebration 
of the Settlement of Bishop Hill 



HELD AT BISHOP HILL, HENRY COUNTY. 
ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 23-24, 1896. 



OFFICERS. 



JOHN ROOT, President. 



John Root, 
A. E. Bergland, 
P. L. Johnson, 
J. W. Olson, 

Dr. John Headland, 
A. C. Myrtengren, 

P. O. Norling, 
John Westberg, 
John Soderqusit, 

Martin Johnson, 
Eric Headland, 

P. L. Johnson, 

Eric Anderson, 

Nels Runquist, 

Eric Headland, 
A. C. Myrtengren, 

Peter Johnson, 
John Root, 



A. C. MYRTENGREN, Treasurer. 

Committee on Arrangements. 

E. L. Swanson, 
:Magnus Johnson, 
P. O. Krans, 
Nels Runquist. 

Committee on Finance. 

J. P. Chaiser, 
Jacob Jacobson, 

Invitation Committee. 

Nels Runquist, 
Eric Headland, 
O. B. Olson. 

Committee on Date. 

John Helsen, 
J. W. Olson, 

Committee on Music. 

A. E. Bergland, 
Committee on Relics. 

Olof Matthews, 
Historical Committee. 

John Helsen, 
Reception Committee. 

J. E. Lindbeck, 
Jacob Jacobson, 
Committee to Locate Monument. 
A. Barlow, 
Committee on Inscription. 
J. W. Olson, 



P. L. JOHNSON, Secretary. 



John Soderquist. 



Peter Johnson, 

Daniel Lindbeck. 

J. E. Lindbeck. 

Martin Johnson. 

J. P. Chaiser. 

J. P. Chaiser. 



A. E. Bergland- 



Kric Headland, 

Ole Lock, 

Mrs. P. O. Norling, 

O. W , Johnson, 

Mrs. Martha Johnson, 



Committee on Provisions. 

P. J. Wickblom, 
Mrs. Helen Lindwall, 
Eric Troline, 
Mrs. Mary Olson, 
Mrs. J. M. Kingdon. 



The Chorus: — Miss Alice Chaiser, Mrs. E. L. Swanson, Mrs. O. B. Ol- 
son, Soprano; Misses Florence Lindbeck and Winnie Chaiser and Mrs. P. 
J. Lindbo».k, Alto; Rev. Axel Gabrielson, P. J. Lindbeck and John Soder- 
quist, Tenor; P. L. Johnson, O. W. Johnson, P. J. Stoneberg, Bass. 

Male Quintet: — P. J. Lindbeck, Rev. Axel Gabrielson, 1st Tenor; P. L. 
Johnson, 2nd Tenor; O. W. Johnson, 1st Bass; P. J. Stoneberg, 2nd Bass; 
Organist, Miss Esther Peterspn, 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 




MONUIVIENT IN PARK. 
Unveiled by Waster Earl Root, afternoon of Sept. 23, 1896. 



INSCRIPTION. 



1846. 

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF 

The Hardy Pioneers 

Who, in Order to Secure 

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, 

Left SWEDEN, Their Native Land, 

With all the Endearments 

Of Home and Kindred, 

And Founded 

BISHOP HILL COLONY, 

On the Uninhabited Prairies of 

ILLINOIS. 

Erected by Surviving Members 

And Descendants on the 

.50th Anniversary, 

September Twenty-Third, 

1896. 







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BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMT-CENTENNIAL. 





REV. AXEL GABRIELSON. 



MASTER EARL ROOT. 



Address of Welcome — Rev. Axel Gabrielson, Resident M. E. Minister, 

Bishop Hill. 

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, friends, one and all: 

As the mouth-piece on this occasion of the corporate village of Bishop 
Hill its citizens, and those adjacent to it, who have had a part in arrang- 
ing this celebration, let me in giving the address of welcome, first of all, 
in their behalf, express satisfaction at the sight here, greeting our vision, 
the assemblage of this vast concourse of people, from distaut places and 
near, met to do honor to the day we celebrate. 

But in the midst of the pleasure which such a scene affords, a feeling 
of sadness steals over us, as we reflect, that not many of the original 
founders of the Bishop Hill Colony remain today, after the lupse of half a 
century of time, to extend a greeting to you through a delegated medium or 
personally. Almost all of them sleep now in yonder peaceful city of the 
dead, or lie in the quiet shade of the distant woods, or rest, here and there 
one, in almost isolated graves. 

Yet our hearts are cheered by the presence still of a few among us, 
and in the name of these remaining aged and"^ honored veterans, I want to 
say to you, their descendants, to friends of long standing, and to those of 
more recent acquisition as well, gathered from near and far, welcome, yea, 
thrice welcome here todav. 

They have come, 'tis true, to only a small town, but now, as in the days 
of Bethlehem, the least of Judean cities, size, let me remind you, is not 
the only measure of greatness. 

The Palestine city was not great because of its territory, or many in- 
habitants, but because it gave birth to One in whom all nations are blessed. 

Our town, though small too in circumference, and insignificant as to 
population, and laying no special claim to distinction on the ground of 
having produced any one vying in greatness, even with mortal men, may 
still aspire to position among celebrated places, because, possibly, of her 
age in a comparatively new country, and certainly because, to brave men 
and women from the distant North-land, of Scandinavia, Helsingland Swe- 
den, belongs the credit of the founding of this exceptionally quaint and 
imique town, on the wilds of an Illinois prairie, a half hundred years ago, 
and in its name Bishop Hill, the creation of"~fhis noble land of patriots, 
professed and sincere followers of the incomparable Bethlehemite, we greet 
you one and all, and bid you, welcome, among us today. 



8 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



In behalf also of the young manhood and womanhood of Bishop Hill, 
who have shared none of the hardships of the pioneers of forty-six, forty- 
eight and fifty, but who today, consciously enjoy, in the heritage they pos- 
sess, the fruit of the privations and labor of those heroes, living and dead. 
I bid all present here, welcome to the fiftieth anniversary of the founding 
of Bishop Hill. 

Yes, welcome to our home during your stay, and welcome to enjoy 
"Without limit, whatsoever of good with which a beneficent Providence has 
seen fit to bless us. 

Again, in the name of all those whom I today represent; the movers in 
and promoters of the celebration enterprise, their committees, who have so 
faithfull-y and well performed every detail entrusted to them, the active en- 
ergetic citizen, the retired aged, honored and loved among us, and the cor- 
])oration itself, in the name of all these I extend to you all, from the least 
to the greatest inclusive, an earnest, sincere and warm welcome! 




JOHN ROOT, OF GALVA, ILL. 
Born at Bishop Hill, October 25, 1849. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



Response — John Root. 

air. Mayor and Fellow Citizens of Bishop Hill: — On behaif of the old 
settlers here assembled, and especially on behalf of those from abroad I 
desire to return to you my most sincere thanks for the cordial welcome you 
have extended us. We come here today from Puget Sound and from the 
Gulf of Mexico, from Chesapeake Bay and from The Golden Gute, from the 
East and from the far West, beyond the IMississippi and the Missouri riv- 
ers. We come not as strangers, but as members of one large family holding 
a reunion at the old homestead. While many of us have been separated from 
the old home tor more than a quarter of a century, the scents and sur- 
roundings which greet us upon our return are familiar, and but few changes 
have taken pl^ce. The same broad streets lined with their beautiful ma- 
ples, magnificent elms and drooping lindens- — the same grand park, the 
same old church, the same old school-house, the same postoffice as of old, 
the same dwelling houses, and the same old bell with its familiar sound, 
that had its multiplicity of duties to perform; to call us to attend divine 
worship, to school, to dinner, and to sound the alarm in case of fire or 
other danger, and I am not certain but what ft also did curfew duty. 

As is well known the causes which led these pioneers, the founders of 
your town — these quiet law-abiding people — to forsake their native shores 
of the Scandinavian peninsula, with all the ties and traditions to which 
they were bound, and to seek for themselves and posterity a home in the 
land of ■'he free, though in the unknown and uninhabited West, in this 
beautiful Mississippi Valley, was the religious persecution to which they 
were subjected. In all monarchies where Church and State are united, re- 
ligious oppression, though varied in severity, is generally the rule, and 
with the 'exception of the instrtiments of torture, it is doubtful if these 
people were any the less oppressed than were the victims of the Spanish 
Inquisition. Where their mode of worship differed from the forms prescrib- 
ed by the established church, or where religiotis services were held at dif- 
ferent times or places, and by other persons than those prescribed by royal 
authority, they were harrassed by the minions of the law, arrested, fined 
and imprisoned, until life became to them a burden, and so like the Puri- 
tans of old, they set sail for a more genial clime. Think of the sacrifices 
they made for their religious convictions; home and fatherland, the land of 
song and story; the land of the midnight sun; the land of Gustavus Vasa 
and of Gustavus Adolphus, the hero of Protestantism. All these associations 
and many more were held for naugTit, and they left all and embarked 
upon the high seas. Some of them in schooners and fishing smacks which 
would today be condemned as unseaworthy to sail on a pleasure lagoon 
within sight of a life-saving station. Tossed on the waves of the sr.ormy 
Atlantic for three and four months, they finally landed in New York City, 
and by slow degrees, by stage route, canals and the great lakes, arrived 
at Chicago, then a village just entering her 'teens, and containing but a 
few thousand inhabitants. From there they continued their journey on 
foot across the country till they settled down on this beautiful spot. 

It is conceded by all that this settlement at the time it was made was 
the advance guard, the entering wedge, to Scandinavian emigration to this 
great Northwest. They were to Scandinavia what the Independents and 
Puritans were to England and Holland* and this stopping place may jtistly 
lie called their "Plymouth Rock." 

There had been earlier Scandinavian settlements on the eastern shores 
of this continent in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, but the spirit 
of adventure had not taken very strong possession of those settlers, and 
their descendants are still occupying portions of these States. A Scandina- 
vian settlement is also claimed to have been made as early as the tenth 
century on the coast of what is now the State of Rhode Island, but thfi ex- 
act location has been somewhat shrouded in mystery and founded on tra- 
dition. 

But Prof. Horsford, of Rhode Island, has discovered what he consld^'rs 
conclusive evidences of the site of their city, by the unearthing of its foun- 
dations, and has caused to be erected there a monument to commemorate 
the settlement. The city was called Norembega (presumably on account 
of the northern origin of its founders, and being probably in the i!a:ne 
land discovered by Lief Ericson and called Vinland — the land of wine — on 
account of the profusion of wild grapes found growing there). We intend 
that posterity shall not be left in doubt as to the settlement of this place, 



10 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

and have met today to dedicate a memorial tablet, to remain for ages as 
a reminder of the event. 

Imagine, if you can, the condition of these people at the time of their 
settlement here; the trials they endured, the . hardships they suffered — 
starvation and pestilence on every hand; settling down in the wilderness 
and marshes, full of malaria and miasma, in the bleak September days, 
when the sun was daily wending its way to the Southward, and gloomy 
winter coming on; with no means of subsistence except principally wild 
game, with which the country at that time abounded; with the nearest 
towns fifty to seventy-five miles distant, and to which periodical journ(;ys 
had to be made for supplies, with horses and oxen as the motive power; 
with no habitation except tents and sod houses in which to pass the win- 
ter — surely the greatest wonder is that any one remains to tell the tale. 

Then, as now, money was necessary for fhe carrying on ot any entir- 
Rrise. and among these people were found a few men of means, who con- 
verted their all into gold and expended the same freely for the benefit of 
the masses, even to the extent of paying the debts and passage for such 
as were unable to do so themselves, so that they could leave their country 
like honorable men. 

Beginning with hoe and mattock to clear fne forest and turn the siOd 
for the next season's planting, the work was indeed laborious and would 
.^eem almost insurmountable. Yet, little by litfle, they acquired their land 
from the Government, and in less than 1.5 years, this village practically as 
it appears today, was built; for these people were imbued with the thrifty 
and industrious habits of their northern home, and among them were 
found architects and mechanics of every class and calling, necessary for 
the successful building up of a frontier settlement; and we have evidences 
before us on every hand of their industry and architecture. Every brick in 
these buildings was molded by hand, and every beam, joist, scantling and 
rafter built into them was hewed and sawed by these brawny men in these 
forests. Besides these structures that we see here, there were many more 
that are now obliterated, especially all the mills and dams on the banks of 
the Edwards. Flouring mills, both steam and water power, rlax mills and 
saw mills, and included in the destruction was that grand obelisk, the 
chimrey on the steam flouring mill, towering over 100 feet heavenward, and 
which would in all probability have stood for 500 years, and would have 
been a fttine monument for the admiration of coming generations, and of 
more memorial value to us than any block of granite we can erect today. 
But such are the mutations of time, ard perhaps in another century some, 
or all of the=e remaining buildings will have shared the same fate. But 
vender stands a faithful watchman and time keeper, remaining, which 
through summer's sun and winter's storm, by night as well as by day, 
faithfully proclaims ancther hour gone, never to return. Thcugh not as 
elaborate in architectural beauty and mechanism as the clock in Strasburg 
Cathedral, yet at the time of its erection it was quite a curiosity and at- 
tracted straneers from all around, and on favorable occasions its clear 
tones can still be beard for miles, and it is not improbable thai it will be 
en duty when the most of us shall have passed away. 

In its most prosperous days this town, had it been enclosed by the 
Chinese wall, the inhabitants would almost have had within the confines 
nf their own possessions, abundant resruices to supply theu" every want 
without being dependent upon the outside world. They raisi^d and manu- 
factured into cloth their own wool and flax; made their own implements of 
evei-y description; raised wheat and rye and ground the same into flour; 
manufactured leather and converted it into borts, shoes, and harnesses; 
burnt their own lime; raised horses, cattle, hogs and poultry, and their 
ten horse power sorghum mill was the large-^t in the northern part of the 
State, and verv few of the necessaries of life were obtained elsewhere. 
Their industrial growth frrm the bes-inning was almost phenomenal. 

These people have always been trve to their adopted country and its 
flag, and while the rumble of approaching war was heard in the council 
chambers of the nation, a companv of soldiers was formed and put in 
training under the military leadership of ore of their number, and with 
their flint-lock muskets they met at regular intervals to perfect themselves 
in the manual of arms, and the whole town assumed a military aspect; 
and after Fort Sumpter was fired upon and it became necessary for vol- 
unteers to take the field in defense of the T7nion, no braver set of men 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



n 




steeple Building and Clock as it appeared in 1869. 




Prize Flag Carried in a Parade at Bishop Hill. 



12 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



ever faced rebel shot and shell than that small company that enlisted 
irom your town; how well they were drilled is attested by yoiider silk ban- 
ner, LOW almost fallen into shreds, for which trophy the entire Regiment 
the Fifty-seventh Illinois Volunteers contested in a competitive drill, and 
Company D carried off the prize. Taking part in the battles of Fort Donel- 
son, Shiloh, siege and battle of Corinth, Vicksbui'g, and many other en- 
gagements; sharing in that victorious march of the intrepid Sherman, which 
has been immortalized in song, "From Atlanta to the Sea." Participating 
in the grand review at Washington, they had then earned their full share 
of martial glory. Some of them failed to return, and many a father and 
mother, wife and child, sweetheart, sister and brother, looked in vain for 
the return of their loved ones; they lie buried today on Southern battle- 
fields, with no token to mark their last resting place, while their memory 
is ever kept sacred by kindred and friends on each recurring Memorial 
Day, by crowning with garlands that arch dedicated to the memory of The 
Unknown Dead. Some of them are still with us, but their number is gi'ow- 
ing less as year by year rolls round, and by the end of another decade, very 
few of the old soldiers, or old settlers will remain. 

Your town today is provided with educational, religious, social, frater- 
nal and benevolent organizations to such an extent that I doabt if another 
town of its size in the State of Illinois can equal it. First of all you have 
the public school, the foundation of all American educational institutions 
You have churches and Sunday schools, Epworth and Junior Leagues, a 
Chautauqua Circle, Modern Woodmen, Home Forum, Select Knights and 
United Workmen, each and all doing .good in their respective fields; and 
then you have a Voluntary Donative Society to look after the interests of 
the worthy poor. 

In these days of steam and electric travel, "telegraph and long distance 
telephone; when you can cross the Atlantic in less than six days; can trav- 
el between New York City and Chicago in twenty-four hour;?; can send a 
continuous message over 27,000 miles completely encircling the globe in 
less than twenty minutes, it would seem as if t'me and space had been 
annihilated, and it seems almost incredible to look back upon the last fifty 
years and see all the industrial, mechanical and scientific improvements 
that have been made on every hand since the first settlers set foot upon 
this soil. ]More material progress has been made in the world in the fifty 
years last past, than in any other two hundie'd, yes — four hundred years of 
its previous history. 

And now my friends and fellow citizens, having come together on this 
beautiful September day — one of Nature's grandest and most glorious holi- 
days — from all over this broad land, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of 
the settlement of this romalitic place, and for the renewing of "acquain- 
tance almost forgot," I hope and trust that we shall all enjoy ourselves and 
feel the better for having met friends of long_ago, and as time rolls round 
in its ceaseless whirl, may we ever refer to this day as one of happiness 
and joy, ever to be remembered. Again I thank you. 




PETER 
JOHNSON. 
A BROTHER 
OF ERIC 
JANSON. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



IS 




MARTIN JOHNSON. 



CAPT. ERIC JOHNSON, 

57th Reg. III. Vol. Inft. 

Son of Eric Janson. 



Address — Captain Eric Johnson, League City, Tex?s. 
Fellow Colonists and Invited Friends: 

We are met today to celebrate and commemorate the founding and 
first settlement of Bishop Hill Colony. These gray haired veterans — the 
survivors of the original colonists — need no address tn remind them of 
the past — to them it is a living reality — they know all about it, and much 
more than I will be able to tell in the short time allotted to me. But the 
greater portion of this audience are their descendants, friends and neigh- 
bors who possess only a fragmentary knowledge of the past history of these 
colonists. It is principally them that I will address on this occasion. 

That my hearers may fully appreciate the standpoint from which I 
view the past as well as the present, I will state that I firmly believe there 
is an overruling Providence that shapes the destinies of nati<ms, peoples, 
and the individual as well. 

Sacred and profane history, both ancient and modern, boar testimony 
to the fact that the exodus of people and nations have exercised great in- 
fluence upon the religious, moral and material advancement of the human 
race. 

The first exodus on record is where God commanded Abram to depart 
from Haran in these words: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy 
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land I will show thee." The 
second is the great exodus of the Israelites from the land of Egypt. These 
two events were the preliminary steps in GodTs plan for the redemption of 
the human race. 

May the 3d, 1607, was planted the first successful English settlement 
within the borders of these United States. It was made by the chevaliers 
of England, men and women of wealth and standing who came to the new 
world to embrace the enlarged field here offered to increase their wealth 
and power. From it sprang the civilization of the Southern States. 

December 15, 1620, on Plymouth Rock, was laid the foundation of an- 
other civilization of men and women who fled from religious persecution to 
a land where they hoped to enjoy the blessings of religious freedom. 

Fifty-one years ago these old Bishop Hill Colonists were living in 
their respective homes, in mountain dells, or in beautiful valley,-, where 
meandered sparkling brooks and rivers, or on the borders of enchanting 



14 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

lakes where interchanging groves of oine and birch enhanced the scenic 
beauty. A patriotic love of native country, the tiiis of xindred and child- 
hood scenes, and associations held them in strong attachment to the na- 
tive heath. No common or transitory emotion could have induced them 
to sever ties so dear and so sacred, and losclve them to turn their backs 
upon native land, old time friends and kindred and embark upon a voyage, 
months in duration, fraught with dangers now unknown. 

In order to receive a full conception and appreciation of the causes 
that led to the exodus, we must go back several years in the history of 
these people to find the true cause. 

History teaches that whenever and wherever church and state are 
united, true Christianity suffers and the church loses its spiritual power 
and becomes a mere dead formality. Sweden and its established church 
became no exception. The church had lost its spirituality, .md its priests 
had become mere guide boards preaching perfunctory and formal sermons, 
which I old the people the way to go without the least attempt to set an 
■example of piety or purity in daily life. 

In the thirties and early forties there passed through the provinces of 
northern Sweden a wave of relieious awakening among the peasantry. It 
was not brought about through the agency of any revivalists. It seemed 
spontaneous, displaying a longing aspiration of the soul of earnest men 
and women, for the bread of eternal life and a desire to lead a life of de- 
voted piety. They associated themselves together in groups without any 
formal organization, met here and there in private homes for the reading 
of the Scriptures and devotional exercise. Hence, they received the name 
of Lasare (readers). 

How fitting it is that on this occasion we Have the pleasure of having 
among us one of the leading pioneers in this religious movement, and per- 
haps the only living representative either in Sweden or America, of these 
original "lasare," who participated in this religious awakening before 1830, 
in the person of our revered and honored colonist. Rev. J. Olson, who, at 
the ripe age of nearly 94 years, has been spared to grace this commemora- 
tion of the results of the labors of early manhood. Nearly all of the lead- 
ing colonists were identified with this religious awakening. 

It is with delicacy that I must passingly refer to the part taken by my 
own father in this religious movement. Perhaps the over enthusiastic ad- 
mirers of him may ascribe to him a greater share in the origin and growth 
of this movement that culminated in the emigi-ation to America and the 
settlement of the Bishop Hill Colony than rightfully belongs to him. 

When Eric Janson felt impelled by his religious zeal to visit Helsing- 
land, he came to a field that had already been well cultivated. This ven- 
erable friend of ours and his able co-laborers had sown the feed and pre- 
pared the way for what followed. He came to friends who gladly received 
him. The reinforcement thus received and the impetus thus given to this 
religious movement by the fiery zeal and burning eloquence of the new 

Young Old Settlers' Group, taken in the Park, September 24, 1896. 

Top Row left to right — N. Soder, Jonas Lindstrum, P. J. Stoneberg, 
Axel Gabrielson. John Root. 

Second Row — Olof Olson, John Soderquist, Mrs. Mary Soderquist. Jo- 
nas dander, Jonas Headlund, Mrs. Mary Johnson, Peter O. Krans, Mrs. 
Lottie (Westberg) Holden, Mrs. Caroline Winroot, Mrs. Betsy E. Root, 
l^aster Earl Root. 

Third Row — E. L. Swanson, Mrs. Jennie Swanson, Mrs. Martha Apel- 
gren. Miss Hannah Chaiser, Mrs. Louise Myrtengren, Mrs. Elizabeth Bar- 
low, Miss Emma Lind, Mrs. Pauline Lindbeck, Daniel Lindbeck, Isaac 
Blomberg, Geo. E. Troline, Mrs. Christine Blomberg, Eric Krans. 

Fourth Row — Mrs. Mary Blom, Olof Krans, Mrs. Josephine Kingdon, 
Hon. Jonas W. Olson, Jacob Jacobson, Mrs. Kate Nelson, Mrs. Anna Pet- 
erson, Peter Johnson, Mrs. Christine Johnson, Mrs. Elizabeth Hallfast, 
Mrs. Anna Nystrum, Eric Nysrtrum. 

Fifth Row — Mrs. Dr. J. F. Vannice, Mrs. Elizabeth Ericson, Mrs. Mary 
(Malmgren) Olson, Mrs. Mary (Jacobson) Johnson, Capt. Eric Johnson, 
Mrs. Matilda (Warner) Rutherford, Mrs. Kate (Bodinson) Harmon, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Berg. Miss Nettie Ericson. 



16 BISHOP HILL COLONY SE.AII-CEXTENNIAL. 



co-laborer that had come among them, increased the number of converts 
and adherents to an extent that it alarmed the clergy of the established 
church. Measures of repression were deemed necessary, and forthwith 
commenced a persecution that eventually became so bitter and unrelent- 
ing that the adherents of the new faith became convinced that unless they 
relinquished their religious convictions, the government of their native 
land was powerless to protect them in their property or their lives. It 
was then, and not until then, that their longing eyes were directed to the 
great Republic of the West. 

Thus in 1845 Rev. Olof Olson, brother of this venerable hero, and fath- 
er of Hon. J. W. Olson, was selected as a trusted agent to select their new 
home in the New World. 

The decision having been made to emigrate, measures were at once 
taken to carry it into effect, but at the very threshold they were confronted 
Willi a "condition" — an all important problem had to be solved. Two years 
or more of unrelenting persecution had cemented them together into a 
Christian bond of brotherly and sisterly love that was as sirong as the 
religious faith in which they lived and breathed. But comparatively few 
were blessed with means, as the believers came from the peasantry and 
laborers in mines and factories, and the many were without sufficient 
means to defray the expenses of the long journey. It was in this trying 
emergency that those who were possessed of means sold their worldly 
possessions of both real and personal property, placing the proceeds there- 
of in a common fund. Thus all who were of one faith were enabled to 
emigrate. 

Tell me not that mere human persuasiveness, or a mere religious en- 
thusiasm could have persuaded so many to sell and divide the same with 
their fellow men. Here was presented a practical object lesson of the di- 
vine injunction, "love thy neighbor as thyself." 

In Dalcarlia, where nature reigns supreme in her august grandeur and 
solemnity and scenic beauty, lives a race of people celebrated in history 
for their heroic deeds of valor and unconquerable love of liberty and inde- 
pendence, and on more than one occasion have they saved the nation from 
a foreign yoke, when the rest had tamely submitted thereto. From this 
province came the most noted example of this self sacrificing love to fel- 
low men. One of the wealthiest farmers of this province, one L. G. Larson, 
who sold his real and personal property at great sacrifice, with which he 
chartered a ship and gave to all his believing neighbors who were poor 
and unable to pay, a free passage over the ocean and clear through to their 
destination, and after arriving turned over into the common fund the re- 
mainder for the purchase of land and the necessities of life. His contri- 
bution to the common fund was over 24,000 crowns. Others followed in 
10,000. 8,000 and lesser amounts. 

When our Colonists had arrived in their new home one necessity press- 
ed so closely upon another, that even had no pre-arranged plan been in ex- 
istence, circumstances plainly indicated each successive step. 

Habitations had to be provided for each successive installment of new 
arrivals. Food must be procured, provisions made for the future in the pur- 
chase of lands, horses, cattle, farm implements and seed. To have turned 
all loose to shift for themselves in a comparative wilderness, meant want 
and starvation to many, and in direct variance with the self-sacrificing^ 
brotherly love that brought them over, yea. it would have been heartless 
cruelty. Besides the religious zeal that had induced these Colonists to for- 
sake fatherland and sever ties that were dear and sacred still burned with 
unabated glow upon their hearts' altar. 

While singing praises of thanksgiving to their Heavenly Father for 
deliverance from religious persecution, and with gratitude glowing in their 
hearts that they were now in a land where they could worship God accord- 
ing to the dictates of their conscience, they went earnestly and cheerfully 
io work to fell the timber from which to build shelter for their families, ta 
break the virgin soil and sow the seed that would bring forth the suste- 
nance of life. They brought to the task before them an earnestness of 
purpose, strong and sinewy muscle, hardened and used to laborious work, 
on every hand and at every step they had to encounter and overcome try- 
ing and harrassing difficulties. ' The necessarily crowded condition in 
which they had to live, the then malarious climate soon made their bones 
ache, followed by the burning fever of ague attacks, stole gradually away 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CEXTEXXIAL. 17 

the inherent muscular strength brought from the fatherland. Yet, at 
times an insufficiency of food would try their spirit of endurance. Death 
came at frequent intervals to seek many a dear and precious victim, but 
under all their spirits .were undaunted, their faith undimmed and the broth- 
erly and sisterly love burned as brightly as ever. Peace and happiness 
reigned within our borders. 

Then came the Asiatic scourge of 1849 which in a few weeks swept 
into the grave over one hundred of the very flower of the Colonists send- 
ing mourning into every family, but no sooner had the besom of death 
passed away then those remaining returned to the work of building up 
their new home and laying the foundation of future prosperity. 

But the Colonists had still other ordeals and trials to endure. 

Although a community founded upon the principles of peace and good 
will to all men, enemies arose on the outside who spoke all nianner of evil 
against the Colonists, representing the community as a menace to the 
peace of the state. This the more readily received credence among out- 
siders who knew the Colony only from evil reports, because of the excite- 
ment caused in this part of the state by the then recent expulsion of the 
Mormons from Xauvoo. 

Here was a colony of foreigners, speaking an unknown tongue, living 
so different from the rest of the world that suspicions were easily aroused. 

Thus it can be seen how easy it was to incite the mobs tbat visited the 
colony during the winter of 1S49 and '50. But thanks to the friendship and 
timely help of our nearest American neighbors who had come in closer 
contact with the Colonists, and had learned to appreciate them at their 
real worth, they arose as a wall of fire between us and our enemies, con- 
vincing the leaders of the mobs that they had been deceived as to the true 
character of the Colonists, and that we were good and desirable neighbors. 
Foremost among these, outside defenders, were Philip Mauk, John Piatt, 
Thomas Maxwell and Richard Mascall, and the Colonists and their de- 
scendants owe these men a deep debt of gratitude for the tjmely help in 
the hour of need. 

Then in May, 1850, came the untimely deafh of the one who had been 
looked up to as the leader, which cast a temporary gloom and depression 
upon the Colonists. 

The Colonists, however, undaunted in their courage, inspired by a de- 
votion to the faith that bound them together in the bonds of Christian 
brotherhood, and had brought them across the wide waters to their new 
home, bent renewed energy to the work, and by degrees they overcame ev- 
ery difliculty and soon entered upon an era of prosperity. 

Their landed possessions, the acreage under cultivation, the horses, 
cattle, swine, sheep, farming implements and other personal property in- 
creased year by year, and kind Providence blessed them with abundant 
harvests until finally the Bishop Hill Colony waxed strong and even 
wealthy, and the outside world pointed no longer the finger of scorn but 
of admiration. 

But worldly prosperity does not always bring in its train unalloyed 
happiness. 

Gradually that former Christian brotherly love commenced to cool off, 
the unity and oneness in religious faith began to waver. To sum it up in 
a few words the communistic life that had been born of the noblest im- 
pulses of the human heart and of pressing necessities, and had been a 
blessed bridge over an otherwise impassable chasm, had outlived its ne- 
cessity and usefulness. 

True it is that the moment the Colonists began to turn their thoughts 
towards a separation and individualization, the latent selfishness implanted 
in every human breast, that during the years of communistic life had been 
held in subjection, was now fanned into a flame, and hot and bitter at times, 
became the contests in our councils, imtil an amiable plan of division could 
be devised. 

Fortunately, however, today, we old Colonists can all join in this fes- 
tivity as perfect friends, and as brothers and sisters of one common house- 
hold once more. Time has healed every sore, assuaged every disappoint- 
ment, and we can each one of us take an r.nprejudiced and unbiased retro- 
spective view of the past, and sincerely and truthfully acknowledge in our 
hearts that our then opponents were not always in the wrong, nor were 
we always in the right. 



18 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

The time allotted me does not permit any further tracing of the growtn 
and development of the Bishop Hill Colony, hut fortunately what remains 
to be noticed is within the ken of all present, besides it will be the appro- 
priate task for the historian of a future celebration. Suffice it to say that in 
the length and breadth of our great Republic, there is not a happier nor 
more prosperous community than Bishop Hill. 

I cannot close my address without paying a well merited compliment 
to the founders of Bishop Hill for their happy selection of location. I 
have traversed thirty-seven states of this Union, together with a part of 
the Canadas, having passed through and visited numberless places of not- 
ed and acknowledged romantic and beautiful location, still I can truthful- 
ly say that for romantic and enchaniing beauty of location, lacking those 
superlative adjuncts of scenic beauty — the combination of mountain dale 
reflected in the bosom of a mirror-clear lake — no town or city surpasses 
our own dear Bishop Hill. 

Last but not least this exodus of the Colonists garnered from the 
provinces of Dalkarlia, Helsingland and Westmanland, noted in Swedish 
history for the home of a race of people with an unconquerable- love of lib- 
erty, inherent purity of character, and unsvi-erving loyalty to pure and 
noble principles, the best and choicest of their sons and daughters, trans- 
planted them into the virgin soil of the faires't and choicest portion of the 
garden spot of the United States, and into the free and unpolluted air of the 
land of freedom, laying the foundation of a community thus specially se- 
lected, based upon self-sacrificing Chrlsua)i and brotherly love to fellow 
man, tried and purified in the fiery furnace of persecution, privations and 
sufferings, that baffle all descriptions, which, as a natural foquence, has 
left its indelible stamp of character upon the existing community, which 
through decades and centuries to come will pxert a mighty influence for 
good, religiously, morally, and politically, like its prototype, the pilgrims of 
Plymouth Rock fame. 

Nor could I close without paying a passing tribute to the dead. The 
Allwise Father of us called you to your eternal rest before you were per- 
mitted to see the realization of your hopes and aspirations. But your un- 
selfish sacrifice upon the altar of religious devotion and faith will live till 
time is no more, in the hearts of your descendants, being a heavenly inspir- 
ation to spur them on to live lives that shall make them worthy descend- 
ants of so illustrious parentage. 

Now a word to the descendants of these old Colonists who may ques- 
tion the wisdom of their parents in sacrificing their all for the good of the 
many, if any such there be. This unselfish sacrifice of your parents was 
made through the noblest impulses of the human heart. It made it possi- 
ble for rne thousand souls to be transplanted to this land of religious free- 
dom, where they and their descendants have become the heirs of a full 
citizenship in the best and freest government under the sun. Can you be- 
hold this lovely place with its hallowed associations and its happy homes, 
without exultant emotions that the act of your parents made 'A possible to 
exists? Is it not also a fact, with a very few exceptions, that the surviving 
heroes and their descendants who thus sacrificed their all have been bless- 
ed four-fold in their worldly possessions? Then where is the man or wom- 
an who would exchange his or her citizenship of this great Republic for 
one in our native land? 

The skeptic mind will, perhaps, question my position taken at the out- 
set that the hand of God was ever in the exodus of these Colonists; that the 
cause for which this sacrifice was made came to naught. Fcllowman, re- 
member that we judge human events from the limited vision of human 
eyes. For hundreds of years the exodus of Abram seemed barren of re- 
sults. For forty years the meanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness, 
to human eyes, appeared an aimless wandering in the desert. The results 
of the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock have not even today 
reached their culmination point in the influence upon the civilization of this 
grand Republic. Who can foretell what God, in His infinite wisdom, meant 
by shaping the destiny of our Bishop Hill Colony forefathers? Still, it has 
been far from barren of results. 

Historians of great research and erudition, claim that the English 
speaking people owe a great part of their indomitable energy and aggres- 
siveness to the Scandinavian blood flowing in their veins, and the cosmo- 
politan race now in its formative stage in the United States needed a new 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



19 



infusion of the same blocd. Until the eniigiation of these Colonists in 
1846, very few Swedes four.d their way to the shores of this great Repub- 
lic, except now and tten a struggling sailor who deserted his ship upon 
touching American shoie. Tie commotion caused by the religious perse- 
cution and the subsequent emigration attrf.cted attention to America, and 
thereby the Cclcni^ts became the pioneers of tie immigration that swelled 
in volume with each succeeding year, until 1,. 500.000 Swedes have landed in 
these United States. They and their descendants have materially assisted 
in developing the resources of the great west, and are today exerting an 
influence that is felt for the good in the religious, moral and political ad- 
vancement of our common country. 

This exodus also conferred a great tlessing upon Fa'herland. It 
paved the way for the relisious liberty that Sweden enjoys today, and it 
put a new relieious life into even the established church. 

In conclusion, we, who are yet among the living, have -i sacred and 
exalted inheritance. Let us not lower the hieh ideal of Christian and 
brotherly love so strikingly e'^emrlifed in the early trials and experiences 
of these Colonists. Let no act of ours dim the luster of the glory of the 
past. Especially may the rising generation in whose hands will soon re- 
pose the future welfare and reputatirn of Bishop Hill, see to it that it 
will continue to he the nursery from which will he sent out to battle with 
the ups and downs of life, men and women of noble and exalted characters 
that will be a blessing to the world. May our cherished and beloved Bis- 
hop Hill be as worthy of its one htmdredth anniversarv as it was of its 
fiftieth. 




SCHOOL HOUSE AT BISHOP HILL 



20 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 




Hon. Jonas W. Olson, of Galva, III. 



Hon. Jonas W. CIson. 
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Citizens of Bishop Hill, and 

Visiting Friends: 

It is with peculiar emotions that I greet this magnificent audience, 
assembled here to commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding 
of Bishop Hill. I assure you that I esteem it a privilege and a great honor 
to be permitted to address this vast assemblage upon this commemorative 
occasion, though I feel that the duty Las been better performed by others 
who have preceded me, and that there are still others who, on account 
of long connection with the Colony and personal knowledge of facts and in- 
cidents in its history, would be much better able to perform the task al- 
lotted to me. 

Although my father, Olof Olson, came here in 1845, one year in ad- 
vance of the Colony, and after exploring several states selected its present 
location, and it might appear from this fact, fhat I should have some per- 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 21 

sonal knowledge of its affairs, and it was, as I understood, for this reason, 
in part, at least, that I was chosen as one to address you today. Yet, I am 
sorry to have to say that my own personal knowledge of events that trans- 
pired are extremely limited, as you will readily understand when I say to 
you that my parents, sister, brother and giandmother all died when I was 
only about three years of age, and I was, witfiln three or four years later, 
taken away from the Colony, and Lave never returned to live here since. 

All I know of my own knowledge is confined to a few youthful recollec- 
tions that appear as a dream of infancy. I did not even know my own 
birthday, my own age, or the birthdays of my parents, sister and brother 
until I received the letter I hold in my hand, which I have recently receiv- 
ed from Rev. Olof Norlin, the present pastor of the church at Soderala, 
'Sweden. 

The letter is written in the Swedish language and is a personal letter 
in answer to some inquiries I had addressed to the writer, but as I believe 
it win be of interest to some of the original Colonists from Soderala I will 
take the liberty to read it in the language in which it is written. 

(Mr. Olson here reads the letter in Swedish.) 

I will only translate and give in English so much of this letter as re- 
fers to the birth of my parents, sister and brother, myself and my aunt: 

"Your father, Olof Olson, from Kingsta, Ko. .5, was born in Soderala 
May 16th, 1S07; your mother, Anna Maria Westman, was born in Soderala, 
April 6th. 1809. Their children were, daughter, Beata, born in Soderala, 
December 22nd, 1836: son, Olof, born in Soderala, December 15th, 1838; 
son, Jonas W., born in Soderala, June 30th, 1843; your aunt, your mother's 
half-sister, Katrina Wilhelmina Petronalla Skoglund, Avas born in Soderala, 
July 16th, 1828." 

Until I received the above letter, July 7th, the date given to me by my 
aunt from her recollection, was supposed tc be my birthday, and had been 
celebrated as such by my children. 

From what I have said, you will readily perceive that my knowledge 
of Sweden and of events connected with Ihe Colony is mostly confined to 
what I have learned from tradition, through statements of surviving mem- 
bers, and through historical sketches and writings of others. 

It appears that my father and his brother. Rev. .Jonas Olson, that aged 
patriarch who still survives, and at the advanced age of 94. though too 
feeble to address us is with us today, had for some years prior to their 
emigration been engaged in a religious movement in Sweden whose adher- 
ents were known by the name of Lasare (Readers or Devotionalists), be- 
cause they assembled in their private houses to hold their devotional meet- 
ings and read their Bibles assiduously in their homes. 

The Devotionalists were a sober, industrious and pious people who ab- 
stained from drinking, dancina\ and other things deemed "worldly pleas- 
ures," which was tolerated among the adherents of the Established 
Church. Some of them discouraged the use of all devotional literature ex- 
cept the Bible, saying "that the best human writings are full of error and 
only tend to distract from ihe word of God." 

According to Mikkelson's History the religious revival in Sweden 
which culminated in the emigration of the Colony, dates from the year 
1842 when Eric Janson Avas introduced by Jonas Olson to the Devotional- 
ists of Helsingland. 

From this time Janson became tne recognized leader in leligious revi- 
vals and his teachings became known as Jansonism. 

I quote from IMikkelson's Monograph: 

".Tansonism and the form which it ultimately assumed was largely de- 
termined by the attitude of the established church. Eric Janson did not at 
first display separatic tendencies. He merely preached asrainst rationalism 
and dead orthodoxy which was prevalent in the Swedish Church. He ad- 
vocated a return to the sim.plicity and earnestness of primitive Christian- 
ity. He traveled from parish to parish conducting revival meetings. The 
number of his adherents was soon estimated from 1.500 to 4.000. The cler- 
gy (of the established State Church) became alarmed of a strong religious 
sentiment over which they had no control, and the import of which thev 
did not understand. They regarded the .Tansonists as a new sect holding 
doctrines that were subversive of the existing church organizations. In or- 
der to regain their lost power they denounced Janson from the pulpit. 
They attempted to refute his heresies in regard to devotional literature and 



?2 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 




"Big Brick" Building. Basement used for kitchen and dining hall; up- 
per stories for residence purposes. Bakery and Brewery Building in fore- 
ground, now used as a public hall, and where dinner was served djring 
the Reunion. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 23 



the doctrine of sanctification. But Janson was gifted wita a matchless 
power of debate, besides being well versed in Scriptures, and whenever it 
came to a battle of words was almost certain to come off victorious. The 
Jansonites were refused admission to the Lord's Supper. Eric Janson re- 
taliated by saying there could be no faith without persecution; that there 
was no saving power in the sermon of an unconverted minister; and for- 
bade any of his followers to worship in the established church, holding his 
conventicles (religious meetings) at the time of the regular churcu service. 
"As the influence of Janson increased, so also the number and hos- 
tility of his enemies. His followers were subjected to abuse and insult of 
the Vabble. Their meetings were disturbed, their houses pelted with stones, 
and their persons assaulted. But they praised the Lord who tried their 
faith by allowing them to be persetuted. They marched along the high- 
ways at night, and sang spiritual hymns, or gathered in front of the par- 
sonages to pray for the conversion of their unregenerate pastors. 

"In June, 1844, an event took place which gave the opponents of thft 
new heresy an opportunity of adopting severe legal measures. Already 
since 1S40 Eric Janson had witnessed against fhe abuse of devotional liter- 
ature. The human writings of Luther, Arndf; Scriver and Nohrborg had 
usurped the place of the Bible. These new idols had stole awpy the hearts 
of the people. They must be destroyed. 

"The burning of the books took place June 11. A great concourse of 
people from the country assembled on a farm near Tranberg. An immense 
bonfire was made of books, pamphlets tracts— everything except the Bible, 
the hymn book and catechism (especially everything advocating, or ex- 
cusing the union of Church and State). Amidst the singiftg ci hymns and 
great spiritual exaltation, the assemblage watched the burning and de- 
struction of the 'Harlot of Babylon.' 

"The embers of the fire had hardly died, before the news spread to 
every quarter of Sweden. Two days later Janson was arrested and brought 
before the Court in Gefle. After a preliminary trial he was transferred to 
Westeras. He was finally released to await a new trial but was not al- 
lowed to return to Helsingland. In the meantime delegations of his adher- 
ents had visited the King and had been promised a hearing oi their griev- 
ances before the proper authorities. Upon his release. Janson himself 
sought admission to the King, and was so graciously received that he 
wrote back to his friends 'I have triumphed at Court.' In September, 1844, 
he was summoned to appear before the Court at Westeras. In his defense 
he stated that the Church had abused its trust; that it had fallen from 
the true faith; that its servants were mere worldlings; and that he had a 
call from God to restore the true faith and show sinners the way to sal- 
vation. He was released. ^ ^ , 

"In the meantime the ardor of bis adherents in Helsingland had not 
abated. Jansonism was being preached in every quarter. The re-appear- 
ance of the leader gave new impetus to the movement. His enemies had 
not been able to do him injury. The King and the highest secular author- 
ities in the realm, it was claimed, were his sympathizers. It was only the 
hierarchy of the Established Church that sought his destruction. Full 
amnesty mieht soon be expected; tlie abominable machinations of the 
Church would be thwarted; the dawn of relieious freedom was not far dis- 
tant. So thoueht his confiding followers. His journey through Helsingland 
was one continued ovation. Everywhere the people flocked to the conven- 
ticles. In some parishes the churches remained almost empty. 

"October 28, 1844, the second crusade against the religious books took 
place- this time'in Soderala Parish. Janson was immediately arrested and 
was again released to await a new trial. Through the zeal of the inferior 
clergy he was arrested six times; three times released by royal orders; 
he was transferred from one court to another, but it is claimed he never 
received a thorough impartial investigation or fair trial. His followers 
were subjected to the same sort of treatment. 

"The ancient and obsolete law against conventicles, adopted in 1726 
against Hallean pietists and other heretics, was revived in all its severity. 
"Jonas Olson and his younger brother. Olof Olson, were made to pay 
heavy fines for holding conventicles, or religious meetings without author- 
ity or consent of the established church. They were summoned before the 
House of Bishops in ITpsala to answer for their religious opinions." 

It is related to me that the last time that Olof Olson, my father, was 



24 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

convicted, was for holding a religious meeting, at which he read to those 
assembled, the 11th Chapter of St. Luke, including the Lord's Prayer, at 
yhich he concluded his exhortation with the following quotation: 

" 'For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor princi- 
palities, nor powers, nor things present nor fBings to come. 

' "Nor heights, nor depths, nor any other creature, shall be able to sep- 
arate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' " 

(The speaker also gave the above quotation in the Swedish language). 

I am informed, but how accurate this information is I do not know, 
that according to the ancient and obsolete statute under which these pro- 
secutions were carried on, the final penalty in case of a further conviction 
would have been banishment and thai to avoid being exiled he concluded 
to voluntarily leave the country and go to America in order ihat he might 
take his family along. 

I again quote from Mikkelson's Monograph as follows: 

"In 1845 he (Eric Janson) sent Olof Olson to America to examine the 
country and fix up a suitable location for the community. This was be- 
fore modern Swedish emigration to the New World. America was then 
a name almost unknown to the peasants of Helsingland. 

"In New York Olof Olson made the acquaintance of the Kev. Olof Hed- 
Strom who is known as the founder of the Swedish Methodist Church in 
America. Hedstrom was stationed as a missionary among Scandinavian sea- 
men in New York. He held services in a dismantled vessel (known as the 
"Bethel Ship") a part of which was fitted up for the recept'on of Olof Ol- 
son's family, consisting of a wife and two children, who remained there 
during the winter of 1845-6." 

It will be noticed that there were only two children. The third, your 
humble speaker, who had been stricken with paralysis from which he never 
recovered, and which left him a cripple for life, was so sick at the time 
that it was not expected he could live, and being too ill to take along on 
such a journey, I was left to the care of my grandmother and my aunt, 
Catherina Wilhelmina Petronella Skoglund, to be brought over later with 
the Colony in case I should survive. 

"Under the influence of Hedstrom, Olof Olson joined the Methodist 
communion, and presently proceeded -on hip way to Victoria, Knox County, 
Illinois, where he was hospitably received by Hedstrom's brother. Rev. 
Jonas Hedstrom. After a prospecting tour through Illinois, Wisconsin and 
Minnesota, Olof Olson wrote back to Sweden confirming previous favorable 
reports of the country, and recommending Illinois as the future place of 
settlement." 

In this connection I have been informed by my aged uncle, Rev. Jonas 
Olson, that my father's first letter from America to him. came in care of 
the pastor of the Established Church at the Parish of Soderala, Sweden, 
who requested him to take a seat between himself and his wife and read 
the letter to them, which he did, but was considerably embarrassed when 
he came to that part of the letter wherein my father said th:^x when they 
came to emigrate they should not worry about "Prestbetyg" (pastor's let- 
ter of recommendation), because the situation was understood and their 
persecution known here, and as there was no Established Church or Priest- 
ly aristocracy in America, the poorer the "Prestbetyg" the more cordial 
and hearty would be their welcome. 

In July, 1846, Olof Olson was joined by Eric Janson, and together they 
fixed upon Henry County as the place to locate the settlemept. my father 
having already purchased forty acres of land in Red Oak Grove, but a 
short distance west of here, which to this day is known as "O'son's field." 

In the fall of the same year came the Jonas Olson party, among whom 
was my grandfather and aunt, who brought me over. I am told that the day 
previous to our arrival my mother had died She had not y?t been buried, 
and I do not know whether I remember seeing her or not; it seems to me 
that I have a sort of a dazed, hazy recollection of being ushered into the 
pretence of some one dead, but whether I then knew that I was looking 
upon the face of my mother, knowing that it was cold fn death, I do not 
know and cannot tell. If at the time of her death she knew that I was on 
the way, and so very near, that if her life could only have been spared 
another day she would have been permitted to see her unfo^-tunate child 
once more, if only to greet him with a last parting glance expressive of 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 25 

what no tongue can describe— a mother's love. I can imagine that as that 
sainted mother closed her eyes to the last sad scenes of earth in her un- 
speakable anguish her last thoughts were probably to wonder what would 
become of her poor crippled boy. My father, sister, brother and grandmoch- 
er all died only a few days later, and it seems so passing strange that 
of the entire family I should have been the only one to survive and be al- 
lowed the privilege of participating in the celebration of this Fiftieth Anni- 
versary of the founding of Bishop Hill. The feelings that overwhelm me 
make me almost wish that the doctrine of the Spiritualists might be true 
It disembodied spirits were permitted to look down upon the scenes of 
earth, it might be a consolation to that sainted mother to know that her 
then seemingly unfortunate child is thus honored, and that Ihe people in 
this world with whom his lot has fallen have been so kind to him. * * * 

It is said that "While the orthodox devotionalists of Helsingland con- 
sisted chiefly of independent farmers and artisans, the Jansonists also in- 
cluded in their number a large proportion of miners, factojy hands and 
poor people." 

:\Iany of these were unable to defray their expenses of a long journey 
some were actu,ally in debt, but their debts were paid and all admitted on 
terms of equality with those who were well-to-do, if not in affluent circum- 
stances, some contributing as high as 24,000 kronor in gold. 
^ They based their reasons for communism purely on scriptural grounds 
Their reading in the main being limited to one book, but in that book 
they found that the first Christian church took care of the poor and that 
material goods had been held in common." This action on the part of the 
wealthy members of the Colony certainly attested their sincerity 

About 1,100 were found willing to leave tTieir native land with all the 
endearments of home and kindred, to escape persecution and secure relig- 
ious freedom. The final parting is thus described: 

"The emigrants gathered in Goteborg, Soderhamn and Stockholm but 
by far the greatest number sailed from Gefle." 

(Galva was intended to be a namesake of this latter city but the 
tongue of our American friends was too thick to pronounce Gefle and so 
it was corrupted to Galva). 

The first vessel set sail from Gefle in the summer of 1846 For weeks 
previous to the departure of the vessel vehicles of every description came 
trundling into the seaboard city of Gefle. From a distance of over a hun- 
dred miles pedestiians came travel-stained and footsore. A feverish excite- 
ment reigned. No one wanted to be left behind. It was a sad parting 
Families were torn asunder, children left their parents, husbands left their 
wives, the mother left her infant in the cradle. It was the flower of the 
youth that went, principally young men and women between the ages of 
twenty-five and thirty-five. Their friends never expected to see them 
again." 

Knowing that many of you. who. like myself, are descendants of the 
Colonists, yet know nothing of the Fatherland, except as it is described by 
others, I shall take the liberty to repeat to you a description from one of 
the world's most famous descriptive travelers, Paul B. Du Chaillu, as given 
by him after he had lived in Sweden and Norway many years and travel- 
ed more extensively perhaps than any other man ever traveled in that 
country. I also repeat it that we may be better able to appreciate the sac- 
rifices the members of the Bishop Hill Colony made when they were prac- 
tically driven into exile from such a land: 

"There is a beautiful country far away toward the icv North. It is a 
glorious land; with snowy, bold, and magnificent mountains; deep, narrow, 
and well-wooded valleys; bleak plateaux and slopes; wild ravines; clear 
and picturesque lakes; immense forests of birch, pine, and fir trees, the 
solitude of which seems to soothe the restless spirit of man; l.'irge and su- 
perb glaciers, unrivalled elsewhere in Europe for size; arms of the sea 
called fjords, of extreme beauty, reaching far inland in the midst of grand 
scenery; numberless rivulets, whose crystal waters vary in shade and col- 
or as the rays of the sun strike upon them on their journey toward the 
ocean, tumbling in countless cascades and rapids, filling the air with the 
music of their fall; rivers and streams which, in their hurried course from 
the heights above to the chasm below, plunge in grand water-falls so beau- 
tiful, white, and chaste, that the beholder never tires of looking at thenr 
they appear like an enchanting vision before him. in the reality of which 



26 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

he can hardly believe. Contrasted with these are immense areas of deso- 
late and barren land and rocks, often covered with boulders which in many 
places are piled here and there in thick masses, and moorlands, all so 
dreary that they impress the stranger with a feeling of loneliness from 
which he tries in vain to escape. There are also many exquisite sylvaa 
landscapes, so quiet, so picturesque, by the sea and lakes, by the hills and 
the mountainsides, by the rivers and in the glades, that one delights to lin- 
ger among them. Large and small tracts of cultivated land or fruitful 
glens, and valleys bounded by woods or rocks, with farm-houses and cot- 
tages, around which fair haired children play, present a striking picture of 
contentment. Such are the characteristic features of the peninsula of 
Scandinavia, surrounded almost everywhere by a wild and austere coast. 
Nature in Norway is far bolder and majestic than in Sweden; but certain 
parts of the coast along the Baltic present charming views of rural land- 
scape. 

"From the last days of May to the end of July, in the northern part 
of this land, the sun shines day and night upon its mountains, fjords, riv- 
ers, lakes, forests, valleys, towns, villages, hamlets, fields, and farms; and 
thus Sweden and Norway may be called "The Land of the Midnight Sun. ' 
During this period of continuous daylight the stars are never seen, the 
mcon appears pale, and sheds no light upon the earth. Summer is short,, 
giving just time enough for the wild-flowers to grow, to bloom, and to 
fade away, and barely time for the husbandman to collect his harvest, 
which, however, is sometimes nipped by a summer frost. A few weeks 
after the midnight sun has passed, the hours of sunshine shorten rapidly, 
and by the middle of August the air becomes chilly and the nights cooler, 
although during the day the sun is warm. Then the grass turns yellow, 
the leaves change their color, and wither, and fall; the swallows and other 
migrating birds fly toward the south; twilight comes once more; the stars, 
one by one, make their appearance, shining brightly in the pale-blue sky; 
the moon shows itself again as the queen of the night, and lights and 
cheers the long and dark days df the Scandinavian winter. The time 
comes at last when the sun disappears entirely from sight; the heavens 
appear in a blaze of light and glory, and the stars and the moon pale be- 
fore the aurora borealis. 

"Scandinavia, often have I wandered over thy snow-claci mountains, 
hills, and valleys, over thy frozen lakes and rivers, seeming to hear, as the 
reindeer, swift carriers of the North, flew onward, a voice whispering to 
me, 'Thou hast been in many countries where there is no winter, and 
where flowers bloom all the year; but hast thou ever seen such glorious 
nights as these?" And I silently answered, 'Never! never!' 

This country, embracing nearly sixteen degrees in latitude, is inhabited 
chiefly by a flaxen-haired and blue-eyed race of men — brave, simple, honest, 
and good, and probably the most independent, honest and faithful of the 
European nationalities. 

They are the descendants of the Norsemen and of the Vikings, who 
in the days of old, when Europe was degraded by the chains of slavery, 
were the only people that were free, and were governed by ite laws they 
themselves made; and, when emerging from their rock-bound and stormy 
coast for distant lands, for war or conquest, were the embodiment of cour- 
age and daring by land and sea. They have left to this day an indelible im- 
pression of their character on the countries they overran, and in which they 
settled; and England is indebted for the freedom she possesses, and the 
manly qualities of her people — their rovinc disposition, their love of the 
sea. and of conquest in distant lands — to this admixture of Scandinavian 
blood, which, through hereditary transmission, makes her prominent as 
descended chiefly from Anglo-Scandinavians and not Anglo-Saxons. 

"We will now travel from one end of this land to the other, crossing it 
many times from sea to sea. over well-made roads and wild tracts, in sum- 
mer and in winter, and linger among its people." 

When the .lansonifes were aboard, and the vessels about to leave the 
shores of Scandinavia, I am told thev sang a song and every eye was 
filled with tears. I do not know what sone they sane, but can imagine 
none that would have been more appropriate or expressive of their feel- 
ings than the language of Frithiof when be was exiled. I will ask my 
American friends to pardon me while I repeat these verses in the original 
Swedish. (Here Mr. Olson recites the verses in Swedish. The audience 



28 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

was visibly moved and applause greeted the recitation.) Nineteen at- 
tempts at translation have been made, but none have succeeded in pre- 
serving the beauty, feeling or pathos, of the original. I will now read to 
you what is said to be the best translation into English: 

"Thou front of creation. 

Exalted North! 
I have no station 

On thy green earth. 
Thy lineage sharing 

My pride doth swell. 
Thou home of daring! 

Farewell, farewell! 

Farewell thou royal 

Valhalla-throne! 
Thou night's-eye loyal. 

Midsummer sun! 
Thou sky unclouded 

As hero's soul! 
Thou vault slar-crowded! 

Farewell, farewell! 

Ye mountain ranges 

Where honor dwells, 
Creation changes 

Your rune-face tells. 
Ye lakes and highlands 

I knew so well. 
Ye rocks and islands. 

Farewell, farewell! 

Farewell ye grave-mounds 

Where the linden showers 
Near azure wave-bounds 

The dust of flowers! 
But time revealeth 

And judgeth well 
What earth concealeth, 

Farewell, farewell! 

Farewell ye Lowers, 

Beneath whose shade 
So many hours 

By brooks I've played; 
Ye friends of childhood, 

Ye meant me well, 
I love your wildword: 

Farewell, farewell! 

My love is cheated, 

;My home is burned. 
My shame completed. 

I'm exiled, spurned. 
From land appealing 

To ocean's swell. 
Life's joyous feeling. 

Farewell, farewell!" 

Their homes had not been burned, but they had been pelted with 
stones and every other indignity heaped upon them. It eeems strange that 
there should have been found in such a country and among such a people, 
those who would persecute for opinion's sake as these Colonists were 
persecuted. But no more stranpe than appears the burning of witches in 
New England, or that there should have heen found among the descend- 
ants of the Pilgrim Fathers, those who tolerated laws to inflict capital 
punishment for the impossible crime of witchcraft. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



29 




30 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 

The authentic history of nearly every ration begins witn an emigra- 
tion, and the cause of emigration is usually persecution or unfavorable 
condition of the emigrant in his native country. In the dim vista of the 
past, beyond all history and spoken of by tradition only, this transfer of 
peoiJes from their native soil has been the course of empires. 

It has been said that, "Though all written memorials may have per- 
ished of the vast processions which moved thousands of miles through cen- 
turies of time, they can be traced back over space and time by words in- 
dicating process and implements of primitive and universal irdustries, or 
war, or family relations which are the common property of races that 
now seem almost diverse." 

Great civilizations are those which are the most cosmopolitan, and 
those nations, as a rule, are the least progressive whose population is the 
most unmixed and exclusive. China may be cited as an exomple. 

There has not teen on earth within historic times, so far as I can 
call to mind, one single great civilized nation of unmixed blood. 

The Englishman is Celt, Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian, through im- 
migration and conquest. The Frenchman is Celt, Roman and Gcth. The 
American is an intermixture and a compound of nearly all nc'.tionalities of 
the earth. The United States of America is the greatest Republic in the 
world, and to be one of its worthy citizens, native or naturalized, is one 
of the greatest privileges of earth. 

A large share of this greatness is due and traceable to the sterling 
character of its Colonists. 

There can be no doubt that one cause of this, our adopted country's 
greatness, is to be found in the amalgamation of diverse races and na- 
tionalities that first colonized and peopled it. These considerations give 
great importance to occasions like this. 

It is of no little moment that the descendants of a great people, who 
are destined to assist in forming a still greater race, are able to point to 
the very spot in this great Mississippi Valley, where is to found the foun- 
dation head, the source of that affluent of Scandinavian blood which is 
making its way into that great stream of humanity which, like the great 
river, broadening and widening as it goes, receives its tributaries of many 
lands as it flows majestically through the heart of this great continent. 

While our interest, our hopes and aspirations as well &s the hopes 
and aspirations of our children are now all identified with this, the land 
of our adoption, and while we are Americans all, we yet have a lingering 
love for thfc land of our birth, that spot where we first saw light, and we 
point with pardonable pride to the universally conceded fact that the 
Swedish character yields to that of no other nation in those traits which 
enable a people to form a new and great State; enterprising, hardy, inde- 
pendent and thrifty, with such thrift alone as industry, economy and hon- 
est toil can give, lovers of freedom and valiant in its defense, the Swedish 
people, whenever they have appeai-ed in history, they have done so with 
honor and renown. 

The name and fame of the great Gustaf Vasa, who escaped from im- 
prisonment and was afterward hunted like a wild beast, when he was 
concealed among the peasants of Dalarne, is known throuehout the world, 
as is also that of "Gustaf Adolph," and that great statesman of his age. 
Axel Oxenstjerna. 

Stranee that amid all the horrors of thirty-five year war in which 
Sweden was eneaeed, Gustaf Adolph should have found time to engage in 
the formation of a Colony, and yet we learn that in lfi26 i charter was 
granted to a company of Swedes to form a Colony in the New World, in 
which the King pledeed himself the sum of 1^400.000. to the stock of the 
enterprise, and that in the following year a few emigrants c.'\me over. 

The distractions of the terrible war delayed the establishment of this 
Colony, but it is said that the project was ever present in the minds of 
this illustrious King, and that only a few days before his heroic death at 
the battle of Lutzen, he declared it to be the "Jewel of his Kinedom." 

After his death the Great Chancellor Oxenstjerna, under Queen Chris- 
tina, carried out his design. The Charter was renewed ?nd finally in 
1638 a Colony of Swedes and Fins landed upon the banks of the Delaware. 
The adjacent country became known as New Sweden. The Colony was 
united, prospered and maintained its independence during a period of 
about seventeen years, when, on account of the impoverished condition 



32 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CEXTENNIAL. 

of Sweden, growing out of the 30 years of war, the infant Queen Christina 
was unable to protect her possessions in this country, and New Sweden 
was annexed to the possession of the Hollanders, and evenrually passed 
under the supremacy of William Penn. 

It is said that the records of this first Swedish Colony are few, but 
er.tirely to the credit of the Colonists, and that one fact deserves special 
mention. The Colonists of other nations were slave-holders. Slavery had 
been almost universal on this hemisphere. In the Charter of this Swed- 
ish Colony, however, the great Swedish King wrote, "The Swedish Nation 
is laborious and intelligent, and surely we shall gain more by a free 
people with wives and children." It thus appears that the first edict 
against slavery on this continent was by a Swedish King and the last by 
an American President. The first by the great Gustavus Adolphus; the 
last by the martyred Abraham Lincoln. 

Swedish representatives sat in the first legislature convened by Wli- 
liam Penn at Philadelphia in 1683, and assisted in framing the thoroughly 
democratic constitution of the Colony. 

In less than a hundred years later the Swede appears conspicuously 
in the struggle for independence as the champion of Amer-.can liberty. 

The name of Axel Fersen and his comrades in arms should never be 
forgotten by the American people. When France sent her chivalrous sol- 
diery under tte leadership of LaFayette and Rochambeau, to aid the young 
Republic in its struggle against the oppression and tyranny of Great 
Britain, among the most gallant and courageous soldiers were those of 
the Royal Swedish Regiment in the service of Louis the XVI. Its Colonel 
was Axel Fersen, who afterwards distinguished himself for his daring at- 
tempt to rescue Marie Antoinette from her fatal captivity. This regiment 
of Swedes under the eye and in the presence of Washington, shed its blood 
upon the last battle-field of our Revolutionary war, at Yorktown, and there 
saw the flag of England lowered and the independence of ths I'nited States 
assu'-ed. 

The number of Swedish Colonists on the Delaware river appears to 
have been something over 900. ard it is interesting ro nrte that their 
numbers appear to have been about or nearly the same as the members 
of thp Bishop Hill Colony 

The names as given in the list of original members of the Colony of 
New Sweden clearly indicate their nationality but many ol them have 
since become so corrupted or chanred as to Icse all trace o*" their Swed- 
ish origin, as fcr instance Hendrickson v/as changed to Henderson, Kyn 
to Keen, .Tokom to Yocum, Bonde to Boon, .Tonasson to Jones, etc. 

To many of the descendants rf the Colr^nv of New Sweden the lan- 
euaee as well as the names of their ancestors have been lost They have 
become so intermingled with other nationalities and the whole so thor- 
oughly Americanized that it would at this time be impossible to tell how 
many of the citi/ens of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and other 
eastern states owe their 6ri"-in to these early settlers on the Delaware 
river, but certain it is that the^e pe'^nle have played an important part in 
forminer the character and shapine' the destinies of this country. 

Communication between the descendants of the Swedish omierrants to 
New Sweden and the Fatherland, and emigration fr^m Sweden to this 
cmintrv bad practically ceased lonsr before t^e membe'-s of the Bishop 
Hill Crlony. the nresecuted "Lasare," of Felsinrland and Westmanland 
bee?n to cast about for a new home to which they could flee from their 
persecutors. 

The advent of this new Swedish Colonv was the beeinnine of a new 
epoch, the oner^inf? of a new tide of Swedish enn^ration nnmbering ac- 
eordinp' to the last census a1mo='t a million S<"?"dinav!ans. who. to^-ether 
with their immediate de'-cpndants, are now almost as numerous as the 
pre<^e"t population of Sweden. 

Tbe advent rf the T^i=-hrp Fill Colony i" iS'^ opened vr> a new tide 
o*' Swedish emio-ratinn u"bep'-d of be'^'^re. which ha« no^nled tbe state of 
Tllirois and the ernre Northwest with prosperous Swedish homes and 
flourishing communities. 

.As any history rf the United States which fails to mention the Swed- 
ish Colony of New Sweden must be inc^m^iete. so a coT^T'lete history of 
Illiroio pr,(\ the erept Northwest cannot be v/ritten with the name of 
Bishop Hill Colony left out. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



33 



It should not be forgotten that the Bishop Hill Colony in Henry Coun- 
ty, Illinois, were no less lovers of liberty than its prototype on the Dela- 
ware. 

I understand that the first vote in this country of the Swedes of 
Bishop Hill was unanimous for the Democratic party but when the ques- 
tion of human slavery became an issue in politics, they voted almost 
unanimously with the Republican party, because that party was then the 
most radical in its opposition to slavery and it has been said of them 
"that they were as true to the principles of irberty as the magnetic needle 
to the north pole." 

When the war of the Rebellion broke out no citizen of this country 
was more loyal to the flag and the cause of the union than the members 
of the Bishop Hill Colony, none more ready to rally to its defense and 
offer themselves if need be as a willing sacrifice upon the altar of the 




ERIC FORSSE, 
Major 57th Reg. 111. Vol. Inft. 



34 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



bleeding country of their adoption. No soldiers from this great state dis- 
played more courage, fortitude and valor than did that Swedish company 
from Bishop Hill — Company D, 57th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. 

Another fact I wish to mention. There stands in Lincoln Park at 
'Chicago a monument to Linnaeus, "the King of Flowers," an honor to 
the Swedish people of this country. A former citizen of Bishop Hill, per- 
haps more than any other man, is entitled to the credit of procuring the 
erection and completion of this monument. 

While speaking of the achievements of the Scandinavians of this coun- 
try, I must not forget to make honorable mention of that illustrious Sv/ede 
who, thi'ough his inventive genius, came to the rescue of the cause of 
the Union, and in the darkest hour saved the United States naA^y from 
destruction and perhaps some of its principal cities from capture, a man 
who was an important factor in saving the union; a man who died in his 
adopted country, but whose remains were claimed by his native land and 
whose dust now sleeps in the bosom of his own mother earth, his mem- 
ory honored alike in the land of his birth and the home of his adoption — 
need I mention his name — John Ericson, the inventor of the Monitor. 

The Scandinavian race has also excelled in story, in song and saga 
as well as in war, statesmanship, poetry and science. 

The name and fame of Jenny Lind, Christina Nilsson and Hans Chris- 
tian Anderson is known throughout the worlcl. 

As faint glimmers of the "Northern LigTTts" of Scandinavia may be 
seen in other countries so the genius of this people fi'om the land of the 
midnight sun has illuminated other lands. 




ERIC U. NORBERG, 
at one time Secretary of the Colony. 



Historical Sketch — Philip J. Stoneberg, Bishop Hill. 
(From the Swedish original, translated and revised.) 
Let us turn back in history to the earlier half of this century and give 
a look at the condition of religion in central Sweden. 




REV. JONAS OLSON. 




JONAS KRONBERG. OLOF STONEBERG. 

THREE OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE COLONY. 



36 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 





OLOF JOHNSON. 



JACOB JACOBSON. 






JONAS ERICSON. 
SWAN SWANSON. 

FOUR OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE COLONY. 



A darkness, so to speak, envelopes the Established Church. Here and 
there — almost everywhere — the social life is stamped with intemperance. 
Priest and layman are neither better. Dancing, swearing, and card play- 
ing belong to the order of the day. 

But here and there, nevertheless, a light is shining in this dark night. 
A few have obeyed the Lord's voice and have forsaken the ways of sin. 
The bible or religious writings are studied in private or in meetings. These 
burning lights are the ''Readers" or "Devotionalists." 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMF-CEXTEXXIAL. 37 

Thus Devotionalists were found in Soderala parish, South Helsingland, 
as early as 1825. Among them were Jonas and Olof Olson, who were es- 
pecially active in this work. Then there lived a few in Ofvauaker parish, 
while in 1837 a revival took place among the youth of Alfta, but the re- 
sult was only temporary; among the awakened was Andrew Berglund. In 
Norrala, Bjuraker and elsewhere, Devotionalists were found as time wepv 
on. 

But another Devotionalist may be particularly mentioned. Born, De- 
cember 19, 1808, in Biskops Kulla parish, Uppland, he was converted in 
the morning of life; for he was 26 years old when, as if through Provi- 
dential intervention, he was healed from certain physical ailments and 
came to feel a deep religious sprit. Through love for the brethren this 
"reader" — Eric Janson — went to visit "readers" in South Helsingland. He 
was then living in Osterunda parish, Westmanland. The year following, 
1843, he as a tradesman, took a load of flour and went northward. In 
Soderala he stopped over Sabbath with Jonas Olson. With him he attend- 
ed a devotional meeting. At the next meeting Eric Janson made a stirring 
talk to the people assembled. He proclaimed that the bible is the only 
true guide to salvation, and for a religious life. Further journeys were 
made to Helsingland. One of these was to Hudiksvall when Janson visited 
Forssa parish. His success as a revival preacher was gredt. 

In 1843 Janson moved to Forssa parish, from whence Olof Stoneberg 
moved to Osterunda, Westmanland. Meantime the revivals continued. 
Several men who were fluent speakers addressed the gatherings. Not a 
few laid aside their everyday work temporarily and made trips to other 
parishes. All these people were now called Jansonists, since Janson had 
been instrumental in starting this religious awakening. 

Opposition arose on the part of the Established Church because the 
teachings of Janson were looked on as disturbing. Janson maintained 
that salvation implies full cleansing from sin and the acquiring of peace. 
He regarded the bible as the one book which should be read to give light 
on eternal things. 

Janson's declaration regarding devotional books was not wtihout its 
results. On June 11, 1844, many books were burned in Alfta In October 
a pile of books was burnt in Soderala; while books also were consigned 
to the flames the same fall in Forssa. 

The days of arrest and prison-confinement were at hand. Janson was 
taken on June 13, 1844 — two days after the burning of books in Alfta — and 
hurried to Gefle prison, thence to Westeras. Through a petition to the 
King he was freed. Four men went to StocMiolm and after considerable 
difficulty received an audience before the King, who said that on their 
arrival home Janson would be free again. When freed, Janson himself, 
wifh a companion, went to the King, who asked him: "Do you desire 
mercy?" "No, I desire justice." was the reply. When about to go out 
it was found that the door could not be opened, but the King led them out 
a back way — a sign, as it were, of how Janson was to one day leave his 
native country. 

He was arrested in November and transported to Gefle to be tried for 
insanity; but he was released and ordered to Upsala to be "warned for 
delusions." On December 22 he was taken in Soderala to Gefle prison, 
where he was till April 18, 1845, when he was released through petition 
to the King. 

If Eric Janson had to suffer, his followers were likewise subjected 
to fines, blows and imprisonment. Much could be said about this, but we 
must confine ourselves to relate only a few of such occurrences. 

In the summer of 1844 a certain number of persons had to appear 
before the court at Thorstuna on account of complaint of the Parish Priest 
at Osterunda, and pay fines. 

On December 18th, the same year, Jonas and Olof Olson were sued 
to appear at Upsala to answer for their religious belief. In Gefle they 
were arrested for preaching, but released v;hen their destination was made 
known. Through the assistance of Justice Henschen they were enabled 
to call on the King at Stockholm, who promised to help. On their arrival 
at Upsala the two brothers were not fairly treated. After returning home, 
Jonas Olson was arrested on New Year's eve, taken to Gefle and placed 
among prisoners whom he, as a crown official, had formerly assisted in 
convicting. He was released in a few days. 



38 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 




Steeple Building and Clock as it appeared in 1896. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 39 

In Soderala it happened that Olof Olson read at a small gathering 
the Lord's Praj'er, and something from the Scriptures. For this he was 
fined 100 crowns and 10 crowns for "Sabbath breaking." lie Osterunda 
parish, Olof Stoneberg was reading from the bible Sunday afternoon, May 
12, 1845, at a gathering at a neighbor's house. A mob came, entered the 
room and severely bruised the reader, while others also received blows. 

About 11 o'clock on the night of August 17, 1845, the Par.'sh Priest in 
Osterunda, with a few other men, broke into a dwelling place and be- 
haved unseemly. Their object was to search for Janson. 

A prayer meeting was being held in Forssa parish, on June 24, 1845, 
under the leadership of Eric Janson. The sheriff, the priest and a large 
mob came, too. Their purpose was to arrest Janson. As the sheriff stood 
on the steps from which Janson was speaking, he was pushed down by 
a plucky woman. Janson stepped down, went through the crowd and 
with a few companions made his escape to Soderala parish. 

For fifteen weeks Janson was concealed from the public. Thirty 
crowns were offered for information as to his whereabouts. Then the 
priest in Delsbo parish sued Janson to appear at the court there for 
"blasphemous utterances." Janson finally agreed to go to Delsbo which 
he did with a friend. The judge saw no cause for imprisonment; but be- 
cause of the great hostilities toward Janson it was decided to confine him 
for life in Gefle prison. 

While Janson was being taken to prison, there appeared four men on 
the highway; one stopped the horse; another cut the reins; a third threw 
the driver's cloak over the latter's head and held him; the fourth took 
Janson from the prison-cart. Janson was then concealed in the parishes 
of Bollnas, Vaxna, Ofvanaker. Alfta, [Mora and Malung. A journey was 
thereupon made over forests and mountains to Christiania, Norway. 
Here, in January, 1846, under an assumed name, he left with a few for 
America. 

That Sweden was not ripe for the Jansonists is apparent from the 
persecutions referred to. There was no longer any hope for them to 
enjoy the privileges of the Established Church. Besides, they were de- 
nied the right to witness in courts. Thus but little was left for them in 
Sweden. 

Some adventurous Swede had once in a while traveled to America. 
Already in 1845 Olof Olson had gone to America. In New York he en- 
joyed the friendship and hospitality of Rev. O. G. Hedstrom in the "Beth- 
el'' Ship. Olson was later recommended to Rev. Hedstrom's brother. Rev. 
Jonas Hedstrom, of A'ictoria, Illinois. 

The time Janson had passed in imprisonment and isolation had not 
been lost. A hymn-book was written; also a catechism. These were 
printed with great risk to the printers. 

Janson made a plan for the emigration. As it occurred in the apos- 
tles' days so should it now occur. Janson appointed certain men, who 
should receive all monies into a common fund, for the communistic so- 
ciety it had been decided to form. Property was sold and money ob- 
tained. As much as 24,000 crowns came under Gabriel Larson's name 
from Malung. Others again were poor, whose debts were paid, besides 
their passage. 

It was found that about 1,100 people were ready to emigrate. But 
the emigration was not to take place without diflUculties. Passports were 
denied the people, and it was only through a petition to the royal author- 
ities that everything was made clear. Nor did the emigration take place 
without the exemplification of Scripture. Husband and wife were parted; 
children from their parents; parents from their children. Sometimes no 
well uttered farewell was spoken — in the dead of night family ties were 
unceremoniously severed. Friends, relatives parted to meet no more on 
earth. 

A voyage on the sea was not so inviting in those days as now. The 
ships were small and incommodious. But of course the many Swedish 
emigrants had to put up with the conditions existing. 

The first shipload of emigrants that left Soderhamn suffered ship- 
wreck and the voyage was repeated later. 

One ship at one time, another at another, left port, either at Soder- 
hamn or Gefle or Stockholm or Goteburg. A stop was usually made at 
Copenhagen, whereupon the course was directly to New York. The num- 



40 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



ber of emigrant passengers varied. One ship might have 150, another 75, 
while a third about 50. The time the journey took was long, usually about 
three months. One ship was five months on the way, including a stop 
in England for repairs. One ship, with about 50 emigrants, was lost on 
the sea; another suffered shipwreck on the American coast. 

From New York the journey was made up the Hudson river to Al- 
bany and thence on the Erie canal to Buffalo; next on the Great Lakes 
to Chicago. From Chicago the greater number went on foot, Avhile wagon 
transportation was secured for the luggage, with which a few aged ones 
and children might ride. 

Eric Janson and some others had been a few weeks at Jonas Hed- 
strom's at Victoria, when a company of emigrants from INIalung parish 
arrived. A few weeks more were spent there. On August Ist Olof Olson 
had purchased for $250, of a settler in Stark county, 40 acres on section 
9, and 20 acres on section 17 in Weller township, Henry county. On 
August 21st there were bought for $1,100, 156 acres on section 8. Hither 
then — to Red Oak Grove — went Janson, Olson and the other immigrants. 
Here were log houses, wheat to harvest, and a few cattle. 

A good place to establish the colony was found on section 14, on a cer- 
tain hillock, where was a spring, a small wood at hand and a little creek. 

Eric Janson bought 160 acres on this section, September 26. On the 
same day were purchased from the government for $400, 160 acres on sec- 
tion 24, and 160 acres on section 23. 

Thus was Bishop Hill begun, named after the parish that gave Janson 
birth. 

A few log houses and dug-outs were here when more emigrants came. 
Some of these emigrants came first to Red Oak Grove, then hither. More 
dug-outs were made until in time they were over a dozen in number; into 
them the fall rains crept as well as other unpleasant things. 

Diseases came. In Red Oak a number died because of the changed 
climate and food. A monument is today standing in Red Oak to the 
memory of 50 who died in '46-'47. During the winter of '47 there died 96 
in Bishop Hill, of whom 11 perished of the measles. 

Yet, amid such circumstances, the praises of Zion were sung. A 
tent-church was raised in the fall of '46, in the form of a cross. It seated 
800 persons. Every morning Janson called the people to morning prayers. 

In the spring of '47 arrived those immigrants who came tc New York 
the previous fall, when the canals were frozen. However, a score of men 
came overland in the winter to construct an earthen wall. 




Church Building. The meeting house is in the upper story.. The pews are 

of solid walnut. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SE:\ir-CEXTEXXIAL. 41 

Besides the log houses and dug outs, a few houses were built of sod, 
some of which served as kitchens. In '47 the first frame house was 
built. Since the tent-church burned down, accidentally, services were held 
in the woods until the new church was erected in 1848. Several who had 
lived in dug-outs now moved into the dwelling rooms in the lower stories 
of the church. 

In time the industries increased. The cultivation of flax was taken 
up in earnest. Of the flax crop of '47 there- were made 12,473 1/^ yards lin- 
■en. The next year there were woven 4,129 yards of carpeting"and 12,454 
yards linen. In '51 the zenith was reached, 31,579 yards of woven goods 
were produced. From beginning to end, that is, from '48 to and including 
1860, 169,386 yards of woolen goods, were manufactured. 

More land was bought in '47 and '48. On October 19, 1849, Eric Jan- 
son bought of Robert D. Foster, for $3,000, 1,116 acres of land in and 
around LaGrange, now Orion. 

In August, 1849, the Asiatic cholera was Introduced by a few Nor- 
wegians. A child of six months died, thereafter grown persons. Protection 
was sought at other places, among which was LaGrange. But on came the 
uninvited guest. At LaGrange 70 died. There, today, a gi-avestone marks 
their resting place. After three weeks the pestilence ceased, but many a 
one over the hundred mark was gone. 

In 1850 more emigrants came from Sweden. On Lake Michigan a 
number died of cholera; of 37 who came from the district of Angerman- 
land only 7 reached their destination. From Uhicago emigrants now often 
went on to Henry by water. 

In 1847 adobe was manufactured. But in '49 brick-making was carried 
on. 100,000 bricks were made the first month. After the cholera the 
work was resumed, 10,000 to 12,000 being made daily. 

The first grinding of flour was on hand-mills. Then two grist mills 
were built, one run by water and one by wind. In '49 work was begun 
on the big steam mill, which had a capacity of 100 barrels £ day. 

In March, 1849, a company went to California to seek for gold. The 
company numbered Jonas Olson and eight others. They reached their 
destination in August, after a journey of over 2,500 miles. 

But while a few were in California to seek gold, and others in Sweden 
to bring emigrants, a cloud came over the colony. The voice of the lead- 
er was hushed one day, and that forever here. Yet, not before its owner, 
Eric Janson, had preached his last sermon on the text: "I have fought 
a good fight, I have kept the faith." The 13th of May came and went. 
The leader's remains were laid away; but tlie great God was alive and 
went about. 

After Janson's death, his wife. Sophia Janson, authorized Andrew 
Berglund as responsible for the leadership of affairs. 

The successor of Berglund was Jonas Olson, who liad returned home in 
February, 1851. 

Since the land was owned in the names of different individuals, and 
since certain privileges could be obtained through a charter, such a 
document was obtained January 17, 1853. The Colony was organized with 
seven Trustees in whose names all Colony property was vested. The Trus- 
tees were Olof Johnson, Jonas Olson, Jonas Ericson, Jacob Jacobson, 
Jonas Kronberg, Swan Swanson and Peter Johnson. 

May 6, 1854, a set of By-Laws were adopted; all those persons who, 
in course of time, signed them, numbered 526. 

In 1854 the Colony performed much labor at Galva in building opera- 
tions; much work was also done for the C, B. & Q. R. R., then under 
construction. 

At the annual meeting, January 22, 1855, it was reported that the 
Colony owned the following: 8,028 acres of land; 50 town lots in Gal- 
va, valued at $10,000; ten shares of stock in the Central IMilitarv Tract 
R. R., valued at $1,000.00; 586 head of cattle, 109 horses and mules, 1.000 
hogs, and other assets such as wheat, flax, broom corn, provisions and 
general merchandise. 

In 1858 the Colony numbered 655 males and females, of whom 147 were 
males over 20 years; 258 females over 20 years; 78 males and females be- 
tween 15 and 20 years; and 172 males and females under 15 years of age. 

On January 10, 1859, Peter Johnson (who was a brother of Eric Jan- 



42 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



son) resigned from the office of trustee. In his stead Olof Stoneberg was 
elected. 

In December, 1859, a Colonist wrote to a friend in b'v.eden: "We 
have, in general, had a healthy season; no deaths since August last year." 

In 1860 the Colony built the last brick building — the school house^ 
Interested in education, Eric Janson had early secured instructors in. 
English for the benefit of the Colonists. The school was maintained each, 
year. It was suitable, therefore, to end with the building of a school 
house — a contribution to enlightenment, as Jansonism had been to relig- 
ious freedom. 

On February 14, 1860, the Colony was divided into two parties — the 
Jonas Olson party with 265 shares, and the Olof Johnson perty with 150 
shares; the Johnson party divided up its holdings the following year- 
among its members, while the Olson party underwent further subdivisions- 
before its property was individualized. 

The shortness of time and other reasons prevent a full historical, 
sketch on this occasion. Various matters have been omitted. 

A few words in retrospect: 

What did Jansonism and the Bishop Hill Colony accomplish? The- 
former was undoubtedly one of the means which helped to give Sweden, 
religious freedom; it also helped to break the ice for a great emigration', 
of the people of the North to the United States. 

The Bishop Hill Colony was built Avhen Chicago was a town, and' 
Peoria on the east and Rock Island on the west, were small places. The- 
influx of Swedish property, together with Swedish energy and will, made • 
the Colony a significant factor in the progress of Northern Illinois. 

But we cannot point out all that Jansonism and the Bishop Hill Col-- 
ony have done — eternity alone will make it clear. 




ERIC BERGLAND, Baltimore, Md. 

First Lieut. Co. D, r.7th Reg. III. 
Vol. Inf. Graduated at the head 
of his class at the Military 
Academy at West Point in 1869. 
Was instructor at the Academy 
during administration of Presi- 
dent Hayes. Now e Major re- 
tired U. S. A. 




REV. ANDREW BERGLUND. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMrCENTENNIAL. 43 

Historical Facts of the Bishop Hill Colony. 

Martin Johnson, J. Helsen and myself were assigned Jo this work. 
This we find a difficult work as there does not appear that any record 
was kept in the early days of the Colony. No record seems to have been 
written till the years 1853-54, when the Charter and By-Laws were granted 
by the Legislature. 

We have not been able to ascertain who was the author, but ]Mr. N. 
Heden presided as Chairman and E. U. Norberg as Secretary. 

Those that have attempted to write a history of the Colony have had. 
to rely on this and the memories of the oldest living settlers. 

Schooling in those days was very rare, only a few had this opportunity. 

We find Kelt & Company wrote a history of Henry County about 23 
years after the first settlers of Bishop Hill. They give a short history ot 
the Colony. 

We find that in the year 1880 Captain Eric Johnson publir-hed a book 
called "Svenskarna of Illinois." It gives a chapter as a history of the Bishop 
Hill Colony, a reliable account of the origin in Sweden, the persecution, 
emigration to this country, the toils and sufferings of the early days. In 
1881 he published the "Swedish Citizen" in MoRne, Illinois. April 16, same 
year, he has a list of the births, as well as the present residences of the 
Charter members. 

Capt. Erik is a son of Erik Johnson, founder of the colony. This his- 
tory is accurate and reliable. 

We find Mikel IMikelson, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, in 
1892, wrote a history of the Colony, largely copied from Erik Johnson's. 
He gives vent to a bitter denunciation of the management of the Colony. 

We find that Philip Stoneberg, a student of Knox College, born and 
raised at the Colony, is writing a history of the Colony, which we believe 
is well written in Swedish language. 

Erik Johnson and his followers in the year 1845-56, opened an emi- 
gration to this country, the United States of America, to thousands of 
Swedes to this land of religious liberty, where men can worship the God 
of Heaven, as their consciences dictate without any persecution. This 
Fiftieth Anniversary is to us more than an ordinary event; our mind goes 
back to the early days of toil and suffering, strangers then in a strange 
land, living in tents and dug-outs. Improper food and exposure were 
attended with fearful mortality. The scourge of Asiatic cholera was 
brought in by emigrants in the month of July, 1849. About 150 of our 
strongest men and women died in a few weeEs. A person at noon, heal- 
thy and strong, would lie a corpse at sunset. Peace to their dust. 

Though they sleep, 'tis not forever, 

There will be a glorious dawn, 
We shall meet to part no never. 

On the resurrection morn. 

From the deepest caves of ocean. 
From the desert and the plain. 
From the valley and the mountain, 
A countless throng shall rise again. 

Though they sleep, 'tis not forever. 

In the lone and silent grave. 

Blessed be the hand that taketh, 

Blessed be the hand that gave. 

In the bright eternal city. 

Death can never, never come. 
In His own good time he'll call us, 
From our rest to that sweet home. 

The original number that emigrated were about 1100; the adult 
Charter members were 454, of this number only 99 are alive to-day; of 
the seven Trustees, two are alive. They are Swan Swansoii and Jonas 
Olson. Mr. Olson is now in his 94th year and will take part in this re- 
union. 



44 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNLA.L. 



August 2, 1846 the first piece of land was bought on section 8, "Weller 
township. Shortly after 160 acres were bought for $1100. 

Together with a log house and some growing corn, this corn was about 
all we had to live on through the winter of 1846-'47. 

The log house, first building owned by the Colony, was moved to sec- 
tion 13, Weller township, and occupied by John Bjork, now deceased. 

We leave the subject here now to our descendants. Whence came you 
and whither are you going? N. RUNQUIST. 




MRS. CHARLOTTE L. ROOT. 

Who was a first cousin of Eric Janson, was born in Osterunda, Swe- 
den, May 22, 1824, and came to Bishop Hill in 1846.. Died st Galva, Illi- 
nois, February 22, 1905. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CEXTENNIAL. 



45 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 

President John Root made a model presiding officer. 

Below we give brief sketches of the lives of the Colonists whose por- 
traits appear elsewhere in this paper. 

Rev. Jonas Olson was born in Sweden, December 18, 1802. He came 
to the Colony in 1846. He was one of the most prominent men In the 
Colony affairs and succeeded the Prophet, Eric Janson, on the latter's 
death. He is now very feeble but was present during the reunion. 

Andrew O. Bergland was born in Sweden January 10, 1814, and died 
in Bishop Hill, August 17, 1896. He left Sweden in October, 1846, and wa,s 
shipwrecked on the North Sea. He was rescued and remained in England 
till January, 1847, when he sailed for New York. He arrived m New York 
in ;March, and in Bishop Hill three months later. He was one of the 
Colony preachers. One of his sons, ;Major Eric Bergland, is now an officer 
in the U. S. Army. 

Jacob Jacobson, formerly of the firm of Swanson & Jccobson, was 
born in Sweden, March 18, 1817, and died at Bishop Hill, December 15, 
1883. He held a prominent place in the business affairs of the Colony 
and was superintendent of the "Ox Boys," with whom he was very popu- 
lar, for a number of years. He arrived in Bishop Hill in February, 1847^ 
having traveled the distance from Toledo, Ohio, on foot. 

Swan Swanson was born in Sweden, May 28, 1825. He came to Bishop 
Hill in November, 1846. He was pi-ominent in the later Colony affairs and 
serA'ed a number of years as post master of the village, and as township 
treasurer. He was engaged in a general merchandising business, in part- 
nership with Jacob Jacobson. from 1S61 to 1ST3. 

]\Iartin Johnson, who succeeded Rev. Jonas Olson as preacher in the 
Colony church, which position he now holds, was born in Sweden, April 
9, 1831. He arrived in Bishop Hill in September, 1S46. He served as Jus- 
tice of the Peace a number of terms, and also as Supervisor and treasur- 
er of his township. 

Olof Johnson was born in Sweden, January 30, 1820, and died at Galva 
July 18, 1870. He came to the Colony in 1846, and was made business man- 
ager and financier of the Colony. He returned to Sweden in 1849 and rais- 
ed $6,000 for the colonists. He was a man of great executive ability. 




MRS. MARY (MALMGREN) OLSON, 
The first child born at Bishop Hill. 



OLIVER HEADSTRUM, 
of Victoria. Illinois. 



46 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMF-CENTENXIAL. 

Jonas W. Olson was born in Soderala, Sweden, June 30, 1843. He 
was the son of Rev. Olof Olson, the founder of the Colony. Mr. Olson is 
the present post master of Galva. He served a term in the Illinois legis- 
lature and was the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 10th Illinois 
District in 1894. He is an eloquent speaker arid an able politician. 

Hon. Eric Johnson, son of the Prophet, E"ric Janson, was born in Bis- 
kop's Kulla, (Bishop Hill) Sweden, fifty-eight years ago. His early life 
was spent in the Colony here on the farm. He has been quite prominent 
as a journalist and publisher, served for a time as captain durmg our Civil 
War, was elected to the House of Representatives of Nebraska. His pres- 
ent home is League City, Texas. 



Notes of the Reunion. 



Rev. Jonas Olson Is now the oldest living representative of the Colo- 
nists. He will be 94 years old next December, but was able to attend the 
exercises in the Park last Wednesday, in an invalid's chair. 

Peter Wickblom and N. G. Hollander were the next oldest people in 
attendance. They are both nearly 87 years of age, but notwithstanding his 
age Mr. Wickblom gave an interesting taiK on Thursday afternoon. 

The whole park was illuminated with Chinese lanterns on Wednesday 
;night. 

Peter Johnson and Lars Ericson are the only ones now living in Bis- 
hop Hill who came over with the very first of tlie Colonists, having arrived 
here in July, 1846. 

The old Colony bell which was used in the exercises last week, and 
now in use as a school bell, is very nearly as old as Bishop Hill, having 
been purchased either in 1847 or '48. 

The excellent photographs for the portraits and views in this edition 
TN'ere made by E. J. Vannice of Bishop Hill. 

Over two thousand people were fed free by the hospitable Hillites on 
Wednesday and Thursday and there was "any quantity" of pvovisions left. 

In the "Steeple Building" two rooms were devoted to relics. Quaint 
old plows, spinning wheels, coffee mills, lanterns, grain cradles, etc., were 
there, each labeled with the name of the owner or donor. A quaint old 
gun was on exhibition, the barrel of which had been used by a soldier in 
the army of Charles the XII, now in possession of Eric Anderson. A wed- 
ding coat of N. G. Hollander, made in Sweden in 1835. A beautiful hand 
made linen table cloth, with raised figures, by :\Irs. Christine Olson. 

Mrs. N. Runquist of Galva, who was present at the reunion, was twen- 
ty weeks on the ocean and lay seven weeks on the dock at Liverpool wait- 
ing for the ship to be repaired. 

The Swedish flag used in -the decorations about the grand stand in 
the park was made for the occasion by tlie ladies of Bishop Hill. They 
were unable to procure one in Chicago. 

Olof Krans is entitled to much credit for the faithful reproduction of 
old Colony scenes in a series of large paintings. The first dugouts were 
reproduced, principally from memory and measurements, in one painting. 
Then there were field scenes of planting, harvesting, pile driving, etc. it 
was a very interesting collection and deserves, and will no doubt have, a 
place with a permanent collection of relics, records and souvenirs. 

Thursday's meeting was given up to reminiscences and short talks. 
The meeting was called to order by the ringing of the Colony bell at 10:30 
o'clock. A number of letters were read which had been received from 
former residents of Bishop Hill, and who are now located in all parts of 
the United States, expressing regret at being unable for vaiious reasons 
to attend this reunion. There were letters from California and Oregon, 
Massachusetts and New York, as well as points nearer home. Rev. A. T. 
Westergreen, of Geneva, Illinois, gave a very pleasing address, followed 
hy John Helsen, after which free dinner was announced for everybody at 
the Auditorium, the older ones being given first place. After dinner short 
addresses or talks were given by Eric Bengston, Peter Wickblom, Dr. J. F. 
Vannice, Martin Johnson, and J. W. Olson. The progi-am was plentifully 
interspersed with music by the chorus and male quartette. 

After the meeting was over all the old members of the Colony present 
-were photographed in a group by E. J. Vannice and a very good picture 
secured. 



BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



47 



There were present from a distance: Walter Bjorklund. Davenport. 
Iowa; Nelson N. Florine, Britt, Iowa; John W. Strom, Moline, 111.; Mr. and 
Mrs. Frenell, Alpha. 111.; Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Hawkinson, Moline, 111.; 
JMr. Christine Bandholtz, Osco; Mr. and Mrs. Gustof Chils*^rom, Orion; 
Mrs. Kate Hultman. Davenport, Iowa; J. A. Nye, Chicago, III.; Mrs. D. 
Chilstrom, Orion, 111.; E. B. Severin, Moline, 111.; Mrs. Catherine Nelson, 
Peoria, 111.; Nellie C. Nelson, Peoria; Mrs. Kate Harman, Central City, 
Neb.; Mr. and Mrs. I. V. Hoar. Rock Island, 111.; Capt. Eiic Johnson, 
League City, Texas; IMr. and Mrs. Jacob Wickstrom, Galesburg, 111.; Mr. 
and Mrs. S. G. Anderson. Davenport, Iowa; Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Berggren, 
Galesburg, 111.; :\Irs. F. A. Olson, Galesburg, III.; S. J. Swanson, Galesburg, 
111.; J. E. Norling, Chicago. 111.; Nels Soder, :\Iadrid. Iowa; Mrs Anna Pet- 
erson, Genoa, 111.; Andrew Chaiser, Chicago, 111.; A. P. Hanson, Rockford, 
111.; Rev. A. E. Wenstrand, Chicago. 111.; Chas. F. Holmes, Galesburg. 111.; 
P. E. Wistrand, Ottawa. 111.; Nels F. Sanborn, Lakeport, N. H.; Carl Ek- 
lund, Evanston, 111.; Mrs. E. L. Rhoadarmer, ;Milan, 111.; Bej'lha Johnson, 
Princeton, 111.; Lena Bjorklund, Davenport, Iowa; Rev. A. G. Westergreen, 
Geneva, 111.; Otto Brinberg, IMoline. 111.; Mrs. :\latilda Warner Rutherford, 
Hepburn, Iowa; Mrs. Lottie (Westburg) Holdeu, Bellevue, Mich.; S. X. 
Holden, Bellevue, Mich. 

Letters of regret received from Eric Crofr, Los Angeles, Cal.; John A. 
Nelson, Wa Keeney, Kans.; Eric and David Xline, Eugene, Ore.; Rev. V. 
Witting, Worcester, :Mass.; Mrs. S. Ale.xander. :Monroe. Neb.; Andrew 
Nordberg, Cedarville, Kans.; Rev. H. W. Eklund, Brooklyn. N. Y.; Mr. 
and Mrs. D. Danielson. Wayne, Kans.; Erik and Martha Soder, Madrid, 
Iowa; Oscar Peal. ^Moline, 111.; E. C. Johnson, Chicago, 111.: Olof Norlin. 
]\Iinden, Neb.; :\Ir. and Mrs. S. J. Anderson, Stratford. Iowa; Andrew Nor- 
dean, Loyalton, Cal.; Olof Jones, Stratford, Iowa. 




A. G. WARNER. 
Orderly Sergt. Co. D, 57th Reg. III. 
Vol. Inft. Later commissioned Cap- 
tain of a company in a colored 
regiment. 



P. M. WICKSTRUM, 
Capt. Co. D. 57th Reg. 111. Vol. Inft. 



48 BISHOP HILL COLONY SEMf-CENTENNIAL. 

Editorial by Mr. E. E. Fitch In the Galva News, October 1, 1896. 

The Swedes took Bishop Hill last week for sure, but the credit of cap- 
turing the quaint old town on its fiftieth anniversary doesn't belong to 
them alone by any means. Hundreds of the old neighbors of the colonists 
who knew soniethin,g of their liberty-loving spirit that impelled them to 
turn their faces away from the Fatherland, with all its endearing ties of 
kinship; with its tender memories of mountain and sunny upland and dell; 
with its hallowed recollections of the happy hours of life's rosy morning; 
these old neighbors, who knew also something of the sublime faith and 
heroic endurance which buoyed up these colonists in their new home 
through trials and sufferings almost too great for mortals to bear, were 
there and entered into the spirit of the festivities with as much enjoy- 
ment as the colonists themselves. 

It is not our purpose in this article to give any account of the won- 
derful religious movement in Sweden which resulted finally in the estab- 
lishment of the Colony here. Nor shall we speak of the early days of the 
colony life. This ground is covered fully by the speeches and historical pa- 
pers published in this issue. 

But we want to say a word in regard to the Bishop Hill of today. The 
village, by the government census of 1890, numbers 3.30 souls. It is situated 
on what was originally a wooded eminence overlooking a small stream, the 
headwaters of Edwards River. The location is a beautiful one and the 
village is one of the neatest and best kept in this part of the state. The 
yards, gardens and well tilled fields present a picture "fair as a garden of 
the Lord." The inhabitants are among the most intelligent and thrifty and 
are abreast of the times in all that pertains to a model village life. The 
buildings, as will be seen from the views here presented, are mostly the 
old colony buildings, but aside from this, scarcely a vestige of the old col- 
ony life remains. The lands are held in severalty and the government Is 
that of the incorporated village. In its palmiest days Bishop Hill contained 
about 1100 souls. Everything was made in the community that was neces- 
ary for the community life, and the surplus found a ready market at good 
prices because of its general excellence. 

Mr. Root well says, in his reponse to the address of welcome, that "In 
its most prosperous days had this town been enclosed by the Chinese Wall, 
the inhabitants would almost have had within the confines of their own 
possessions, abundant resources to supply their every want, A-'ithout being 
dependent upon the outside world. They raised and manufactured into 
cloth their own wool and flax, made their own implements of every descrip- 
tion, raised wheat and rye and ground the same into flour, manufactured 
leather and converted it into boots and shoes, burnt their own lime, raised 
horses, cattle, hogs and poultry, and their ten-horse-power sorghum mill 
was the largest in the northern part of the state, and very few of the nec- 
essaries of life were obtained elsewhere. Their industrial growth from the 
beginning was almost phenomenal." 

The Bishop Hill Colony has passed away. Whether we agree or disa- 
gree with the religious tenets of the colonists; whether we agree or disa- 
gree with the idea of Colony life, the heart of every lover of liberty beats 
in sympathy with every honest effort, misdirected though it may be, to se- 
cure a larger measure of liberty for any portion of the race. 

The Bishop Hill Colony has passed away, but those hardy pioneers have 
left in their descendants, a heritage to free government, of as intelligent, 
brave and loyal a class of citizens as can be found within our borders. 



We are indebted to the Swedish M. E. Book Concern of Chicago, Illi- 
nois, for the "Winter Scene," and to the Engberg-Holmberg Publishing 
Company, also of Chicago, for the following cuts: Prize Flag, Peter John- 
son, Old Settlers' Group 1900, Eric Forsse, P. M. Wickstrum, Eric Berg- 
lund, Jonas Ericson, Jonas Kronberg, Olof Stoneberg, Eric L'. Norberg, 
and A. G. Warner. 




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